


Her Company

by AngelofSol



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Heist, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-02-12 10:03:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12956877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelofSol/pseuds/AngelofSol
Summary: Beacon was only meant to be an escape from her father’s control, not an attempt to battle him head on.  But after a chance fight with a silent thief, and with the opportunity bestowed by their difficult first meeting, she has been set on a path headed straight into conflict with him.  Her time at Beacon and her new partner beget change as she forges her own goals for the first time.  Goals she is willing to fight for.





	1. A Meeting on a Train

"Go get Torchwick you two," Weiss says. "Let me handle her."

Weiss beckoned Blake and Yang forward, earning some questioning looks from the pair. The woman under the parasol frowned at the scene.

"Don't get too cocky Ice Queen. I won't be here to bring the heat you know," Yang said. Weiss grimaces at her joke, gesturing to the pair to move forward. Yang and Blake rush on ahead, and the woman makes a move to stop them.

"Now, now, your fight is with me."

Weiss unleashes her glyphs, letting some projectiles fly towards her target. The short woman furrows her brow, and moves her parasol into a defensive position. The projectiles exipre harmlessly against the fabric of the rib. She puts down her parasol and gives Weiss a smirk.

Weiss's eyes narrow. The fight is already on, and her hands start to waver a bit. She had oft battled with human opponents, but not against one who would likely kill her should the opportunity arise. She takes a deep breath with her eyes shut, and regains her composure. She opens them to see her opponent rolling her own. Weiss makes her move.

\- And Weiss set the pace.

She initiates with a quick rush. The woman, her eyes flickering between colors, sighs and readies her parasol to parry the strike.

Newbies are always so eager to get into the heat of things, in her experience. She had more hope for an entertaining fight with the fiery blonde, rather than this spoiled princess. Rushing in is a good way to get killed after all, especially without power to back up the pace that rushing tends to set. At the very least, she'll be a good toy, even if she doesn't last that long.

The colorful fighter enters into her stance for her counterattack and begins a kick. Though she is ready to parry, Weiss's rapier never meets her parasol. Her kick continues upwards, where it finds Weiss's weapon. The collision pushes the two combatants back a couple of feet. The fighters look shifts into surprise, as Weiss takes her turn being smug. Their eyes connect and her surprise shifts into a predatory smile.

Maybe this princess will be more fun than she thought?

Weiss, on the other hand, was elated. Although she didn't inflict harm on her opponent, having her small gambit pay off gave her confidence. Her hands have stopped shaking, her heart rate has increased, and she was definitely feeling the heat of battle. She had never really been one to enjoy spars, unlike Pyrrha, but she was starting to see why Pyrrha might use it to release stress. Using her new-found bravado, she taunts with her right hand.

\- And the woman returned the pace.

Her opponent walks forward, accepting the taunt. She delivers an overhead strike with her parasol, which Weiss parries, attempting a counter and slashing at the woman's stomach. Her blade meets the parasol, and the fight is again reset.

With her heart rate steadily rising, Weiss can feel the adrenaline running through her body, and she basks in it. Its been long since she's fought an opponent who has finesse. Keeping in mind how much danger she is in, she can already tell this fight will be one to savor, for as long as she is alive.

The woman, similarly, was brimming with excitement at the prospect of a more intelligent toy, the kind that will give her a mental challenge, rather than a physical one. Most of those she ended up fighting relied on their strength, rather than more complex mind games. Even still, she did have to up the pace, as this was one gear to low for her to truly take pleasure in. Weiss had showed some promise, and she hoped Weiss would meet it.

\- And the pace increased.

Weiss starts up again, and the two trade blows. Slash. Parry. Stab. Dodge. The sounds of metal and cloth colliding fill the air, neither person giving way to the other, matching blows, and returning them. The rythym is set by the pink and brown haired girl, looking for an opening in Weiss's defense. Weiss follows her pace, returning every strike with equal force, giving no ground. Weiss's movements start taking on a certain grace, as only a student trained by private tutors could have.

The fight waltzes around the train car. Feints and double feints weave themselves into the dance, each dancer showing themselves adept at their usage.

Weiss could get used to this, this combination of fear and excitement. The butterflies that resided in her stomach are long gone. Every slash feels like a step in their tango, and with every parry, like a trill in their song. What was the sound of blades clashing, now resonates as a tantalizing melody, bringing out emotions she's never truly felt, and it is no surprise to her that her smile has not left the entire time.

The eyes watching Weiss switched colors, roaming across Weiss's body. Even though she was taking it easy, she wasn't used to the entertainment in contesting her current partner. Her role was usually the cat, and her mice were merely ways to pass the time. This mouse, who was not content with being toyed with, instead was matching her own game. How far she could push the girl in white before she broke?

\- So she doubled the pace.

With the speed of her movements increasing, Weiss's next strike surprised herself. It landed. Though she was not expecting her opponent to be made of glass. The image of the women shattered, and the sound of glass breaking put her in a state of shock, leaving her wide open to the woman's kick.

Weiss skids across the floor, halting as she hits the wall. Picking herself up and looking back, an innocent smile peers back at her, blowing her a kiss.

_Your move sweetheart._

Though left unsaid, Weiss could feel the arrogance in the air. She grimaces, dusting herself off, and prepares her next move, a glyph appearing beneath her feet. If that is the way the woman wanted to play it, she could pull out some tricks of her own.

\- And Weiss took control.

Though unable to speak, her taunts were just as effective without the vocalizations that commonly accompanied them. Many of her battles were won on the rash decisions made by her foes when she employed her silent provocation. Contrary to her hope in most encounters, the idea that the princess across from her would not succumb to the unheard jeers was on the forefront of her thoughts. The princess was showing quite a head for battle. But as Weiss took her stance, her smile dropped, waiting for what looks to be a repeat of how the battle had started. If all it took to disrupt Weiss's emotional stablity was this, then the fun had run out.

But she was wrong.

Weiss's glyph flashes, propelling herself at the source of the taunts. The parasol and her owner jump backwards, allowing her barely enough time to raise her weapon in anticipation of whatever attack was on its way.

But she wasn't ready.

At the last second, Weiss's form phases out, and with no time to turn around, the woman is knocked forward from a slash to the back. She hits the floor, twisting and landing on her back. Looking up, she sees Weiss polishing her blade. Removing her eyes from her blade, their gazes meet.

_Try me._

Two can play at that game.

A toothy grin appears below her mismatched eyes. Maybe it was a good thing she didn't get to play with the blonde, her expectations of the princess being defied at every turn. But as much as she would love to continue this, her time is almost up. The train is about to reach the city, and she needed to get out before that.

\- And the woman took back control.

Getting up and walking towards Weiss, she telegraphs an overhead strike with her parasol. Weiss's rapier glides into a position to parry, but the parasol and the rapier never meet. Clattering to the side of the train, Weiss's rapier is twisted out of her hand by the heel of foe's boots. Weiss's instincts try to take over, pulling her back, but she isn't fast enough. The woman spins, introducing Weiss's face to her parasol, and Weiss's consciousness leaves her for a brief moment.

As Weiss recovers her bearings, she feels heat on top of her stomach. Her vision returns to the sight of a body clad in white and brown straddling her. She draws her eyes slowly up the girls body, locking eyes with the one straddling her. The flame she sees in the eyes staring back at her brings Weiss's body to a chill.

Weiss is no stranger to being looked at. Her father had paraded her around many parties, treating her as just a doll in under his control. And as such, she was no stranger to the looks of the young men and women who wanted nothing but to take her body, and brag about it later. No stranger to the looks of old perverts who wanted to corrupt her and to break her, consuming her purity and poisoning her thoughts and memories. At first it had scared her, taking hold in her dreams and creating nightmares, but it never became reality. She grew accustomed and had long since learned to pay no heed to those glances.

And then she had become familiar with another type of look. The frustrated look of other children, seeing a child who had anything she wanted, acting like she was above them. The jealous look of businessman, seeing a girl who would inherit the company, one who they thought would run it into the ground. The disgusted look of spouses, seeing the beauty their partners lusted after, a homewrecker with her purity. These too, she eventually ignored as she had no choice, lest the hate take hold of her life.

But what Weiss saw here was different. It held a hint of lewdness, but it was a lust that just slowly drips into the atmosphere. It contained a bit of jealousy, but not at anything Weiss had recognized in the moment. Something vastly more dangerous bled out of it. Domination. Victory. Conquest. This too, was familiar. How could it not be? Her father took no prisoners in his quest to grow the largest company in all of Remnant. Companies don't go from a small local chain to an international powerhouse otherwise. And thats where the chill froze her over.

She had lost. And though she could feel the fear coursing through her body, death hanging over her head, her heart was left unaffected. She was excited. She could not bring herself to stop reliving the battle she had just been through. Is this what her father felt, was it what brought about the flame in her foes eyes? She had tasted the nectar, and she wanted more. That was incorrect, she NEEDED more. And so she made an observation.

"The debt of life from a Schnee is not something you come across everyday, now is it?"

The woman's hand pauses at the implied offer, the blade still mostly undrawn from her parasol. The predatory gaze glazes over as thoughts begin to run through her mind. A beat passes. The blade goes back into the parasol, and the colorful woman nods, agreeing to the unspoken deal. She pulls out her own scroll, indicating it, and then motions at Weiss. Weiss withdraws her scroll and puts it into the womans proffered hand. After a moment, the scrolls are synced, and she slips Weiss's scroll back into Weiss's pocket.

She stands up, lending a hand out towards Weiss. Weiss accepts the hand and lifts herself up, watching her new acquaintance begin her exit. A smile, a bow, and the woman is gone. Weiss takes her scroll out of her pocket, and swipes through to the new contact.

_Neo_

"Just what have I gotten myself into?"

Weiss sighs, and rushes on ahead, hoping to take her mind off of what she just gave away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! This is my first serious written work, and I'm really happy with how its started. I've decided to take up writing because it seems like a good way to express my love for stories in their various forms. I read a lot of books, fanfictions, and other miscellaneous written work I've always wanted to give it a try. Going from the idea in my head and putting it on paper is an experience new to me, as it's not as strict and as logical as my other pursuits (gaming/programming/math). I want to thank my editor, who requested anonymity, as they really helped me out proofing and just generally increasing the quality of this writing.
> 
> I also wanted to talk a little bit about why I chose this idea as my starting point. Neo is my favorite character in RWBY, due to a number of factors: she's mute, she's cute, and she's a bit sadistic to boot! Wordplay aside, I've got a penchant for villians/evil characters especially if you can paint them into grey rather than pigeonholing them into the dark side. A little redemption never hurt anyone, and I'm hoping that I can write her into a compelling character in my future chapters. The other side of this is Weiss, a character (at least in my opinion) who is often reduced to a small subset of traits, which are then dialed up to 11. I also don't like the way canon treats her, as she seems to have suffered very little under her father's rule disregarding her fathers prejudice. I would expect someone in such a situation to pick up more problematic flaws, but she's not been shown to have them otherwise. Being a bit haughty and a stickler for manners and the rules is not really a flaw in my opinion. I also think she's a little less respected in the combat sense than she should, though I'm not claiming she's some hidden badass.
> 
> I chose this setting, because in terms of matchups in combat, I think Weiss is a better opponent than Yang. Yang's emotional state and fighting style are almost perfectly countered by Neo's raw power and experience. Make no mistake though, Neo beats either of them easily disregarding outside intervention. We can see from the canon fight with Yang that she has massive power because she knocks Yang around with absolutely no trouble. Because Neo is one to toy with her opponent, Weiss has a chance to show her stuff, surprising Neo along the way.
> 
> The remaining problem is then the issue of Weiss's defeat. With no other factors Neo would definitely kill her, and unlike Yang there is no Raven to save her. Though that's not really an ideal outcome, in terms of a continuing story, or just attempting to remain close to canon. Thus Weiss must save herself. And so she offers herself, as that is all she has to offer at that point. It is a very good offer though, Weiss's position as the heiress is nothing to scoff at, especially considering the heists Roman has been conducting. This also comes from her father, as a ruthless businessman would do pretty much anything to get out of death. Neo's acceptance is pretty much set in stone, as the help Weiss would be to Roman and her is immense. She's not stupid, after all.
> 
> So what is the rest of this fic going to be about? It's going to be about Weiss falling a bit, and Neo rising a bit. Fast friendship, and maybe a bit of romance may come out of it. The format will rather episodic, more than a continuing plot, as I'm not too sure or familiar with making a longer arc. That doesn't mean I don't have a plan, but nothing overarching is likely to come of it. I will also warn that it's likely that the fic will end suddenly, though my writing will not.
> 
> I'd love to see any reviews, and I'm very interested in hearing what you think I did wrong, either writing wise or characterization wise (though I may just disagree with you here). Thanks again for reading, and I hope to see you all again soon!


	2. A Date at a Shop

Weiss's scroll goes off.

She reaches for it, knocking it onto the ground. A groan makes itself known from across the room.

"Really Weiss? It's 2 o'clock in the morning, don't you need your beauty sleep?" Yang says.

Weiss growls back. Getting up from her bed, she reaches down to pick up her scroll.

_Neo_

Her eyes widen, and the haze of sleep immediately leaves her, her heart skipping a beat at the name that is blinding her eyes. She flicks her scroll open to read the message.

_Hey love, date night tomorrow at 2 AM, I'll be waiting at RT Ice Cream, see you there ;)_

Weiss stares at her phone incredulously, her awareness ensnared by rage at the sheer audacity of what she was looking at. What kind of imbecile would think of sending her a message at this god forsaken hour? She mashes out a response, earning a moan from across the room.

_Fine._

She tosses her scroll back onto the night stand beside her. Laying back in bed, she reflects on the danger she is putting herself in, coming to the realization that she could have just ignored this message. If they were to send a follow up threat, she could have claimed to have missed the message! Surely an heiress like her has many contacts and communiques with other people. She is trying to ignore a deep seated thirst, a thirst for the danger she had encountered the last time she saw Neo. Her blood pumping. Her ears pounding. She chases after sleep, twisting and turning in an attempt to put the memories of her fight out of her mind, but no luck as she succumbs to an uneasy rest.

* * *

\- Weiss was not happy.

Her day started off waking up way too early. Then she tried to go back to sleep. Then she woke up again. And then she fell back to sleep in the shower. When Ruby had yelled at her to "stop hogging the shower", she slipped and almost became a victim of the bathroom's marble floor. And that was just the start.

She had to struggle to get through 2 tests, one of which she had completely forgotten about. She felt like kicking herself watching Ruby finish early, clearly having done a good job. And then Ruby had decided that it was "Spend the Day Bothering Your Partner as Much as Possible Day," following her around like a hyperactive puppy. A puppy that was clearly too young to attend this school, and not cuddly and fluffy like a certain corgi. It had taken Weiss 4 hours to get Ruby off her back, telling her she was gonna spend the night in Vale.

And now she was about to miss the last Bullhead to Vale. She was very tempted to use her semblance to make it on time, but she settled for yelling like a laymen instead. The pilot gives her a small salute, and waits for her to board.

* * *

\- And Weiss was still not happy.

It occurs to her that she now has 6 hours to burn before the 'date'. And she is still tired. She looks around, searching for a place to rest, settling on a coffee shop that has late open hours.

Weiss claims a couch in the corner, and stares menacingly at one of the baristas. The barista, clearly a bit frightened, comes over to take her order.

"I want an Atlesian Tea, stirred with an ice cube."

"Y-yes ma'am."

"And wake me up at 1:45 AM."

"Uhhh I don't thi-" A scowl appears on Weiss's face.

"1:45 AM."

"Yes..."

The barista crawls away, the other employees taking care of her drink order. Weiss receives her tea in no time, and sets to drinking it. Taking in the soothing fragrance of the tea, she sets her back down on the couch, kicks off her boots, and drifts off to sleep.

* * *

 

Weiss wakes up to the feeling of an employee tapping her shoulder. She shoos them off, puts her boots back on, and wipes the sleep from her eyes. She does not feel rested at all. She feels her back creak as she gets up from the couch, her legs flaring as she attains a standing position. She grabs her equipment, and walks out the door without a word to the employees.

She starts her journey to the ice cream shop, and her thoughts start to clear a bit. She is walking into the lion's den. While she saved herself on the train, there was no way to know that she would survive whatever lay ahead. But unlike before, she did not feel fear. She feels anger. Who was so arrogant to think they could order a Schnee around? Waking her up in the middle of the night, destroying any semblance of sleep she was to have? Clearly, Weiss could not let this stand.

She opens the door to the ice cream shop, seeing Neo waiting at a table, seated in chair across from a booth. A bowl of ice cream is on the table, being poked and prodded by Neo's spoon. Across the room she notices Roman is manning the counter.

"Can I take your order Princess?" Roman sneers, "courtesy of the lady sitting over there." He motions to Neo.

\- And Weiss's temper flared.

"I thought you were in prison?! Also, its 'heiress', not 'princess'!"

"Sheesh, Neo took me out to supervise for the night. I'll be back in prison before Atlas smells something wrong."

"And what about this place?"

"Huh?" Weiss beckons, waving her arms about with the reckless abandon of a madman. "Oh, this is just one of our laundering fronts. Neo has a taste for ice cream, and I get to put my name all over it with everyone none the wiser."

He indicates the "RT" on the board behind him, his face sporting a smug grin. Great. Another idiot. Weiss looks to the board behind Roman, examining her choices. Something to eat here might help, as it dawns on her: she has not eaten all day. Her stomach rumbles, as if to reinforce this realization. She spends a bit longer considering the options, and informs Roman of what she wants, making her way to the booth across from Neo.

Neo looks back over her chair, and motions Weiss to sit across from her. As Weiss takes her seat in the booth, her scroll goes off. She reaches slowly into her pocket, retrieving the device that now has the focus of her ire.

_Neo_

She swipes her scroll open.

_Hey hot stuff, hope it didn't take you too long to find this place._

\- And Weiss erupted.

"Is this a joke? You messaged me in the middle of the night, destroying any chance I had at sleep, and then you don't even have the respect to speak to me when I come down to meet you?"

"She's mute kid," says Roman. Weiss's scroll buzzes again.

_And I'm not the one with a debt to be paid._

Neo winks at her.

\- And Weiss cooled to a boil.

"Fine." Weiss pouts, crossing her arms and staring straight at Neo, "What do you want from me?"

One of Neo's hands move to her chest, as her face slides into a look of mock-offense. Weiss notices Neo's other hand type on a scroll.

_Can a girl not have a date with someone who owes her their life?_

"A date? Are you serious? You have me here, right in front of you, and you sit here making jokes? Under the watchful eye of Roman Torchwick? Well excuse me if I'm not exactly melting to your advances in a situation where I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychopaths."

Neo's other hand moves to begin typing, but Romans voice enters the fray.

"Calm down ice queen. While threats and beatdowns will get you farther in my opinion, Neo prefers to get a little more intimate with her to-" Roman pauses, "contacts. The implied of threat of murder is usually enough for her. I'll be honest though, I can tell that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

Her eyes narrow.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, we both know your father."

A silence falls over the room. Weiss knows exactly what he means. And she is trying to ignore it. But new information was also good, she was not aware her father had contact with Roman. He continues on.

"Look at it like this, we're giving you free ice cream and making small talk. That's better than at least 10 different things we could be doing right now."

Weiss mulls this over. He was not exactly wrong. This was a lot more tame than what she had expected, and certainly better than dying. There was just one problem. She was angry. And she could not let it go. And under her anger, lay something she did not want to admit. She wanted to irritate them, to see how far she could push their patience, before an "accident" might occur. She plasters a forgery of a smile on to her face.

"Sorry, sorry, let's start over. I do so apologize if I came off as a bit antsy, though one might consider it reasonable considering the situation I'm currently in."

Neo flashes a small smile. Neither of them bought that piece of crap. But that was fine, deception was not her intention, she only wanted to poke and prod the bear.

Neo's hand dances across her scroll.

_No worries, it is our first date after all._

Neo gives off a warm smile. It feels out of place, catching Weiss off guard. She feels her a flash of warmth run down her spine, a blush appearing on her cheeks. The rhythmic tapping of fingers continues.

_So tell me about yourself princess._

"Well first off, its not princess, its heiress." Neo giggles. "Second off, given how you seem to know my father, I would expect you know all about me."

 _Let's just say our business never really involved you. So again, tell me about yourself princess._  Weiss face twists into a scowl.

\- And Weiss foamed at the mouth.

"Why do you even care? Shouldn't you be interrogating me about the next shipment from the SDC? Making me lure my friends in to some sort of trap so you can kill us all at once? Or are you even more sc-"

Weiss jumps as Roman slams down a bowl of ice cream in front of her. She looks to see his face contorted in anger. Weiss shivers, crushing her hand in her lap with her thighs.

"Listen kid, we're giving you a chance here. You offered this deal, this is your cross to bear. If you don't want to play nice, we can just take you out back and put you in a body bag," Roman snarls.

Weiss looks to Neo, who is leaning back, a small smile adorning the colorful girl's face. She played right into Neo's hands. Her mood cools, coming down off the adrenaline that she is been riding since she walked in the door. As she begins to return to reality, the tension in her shoulders fading, she begins to grasp the situation she is in. She is not in any particular danger. Relief swarms her body, but in its wake leaves disappointment and exhaustion.

She takes a deep breath, calling upon memories of her old social training, and begins.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the SDC," Weiss performs a small bow, "I was an accomplished singer, and I am now training to be a huntress at Beacon Academy. How can I be of service?"

A beat passes.

Neo begins to break down laughing.

"What?!" Weiss says, her incredulity filling the room.

_You really are a **princess** , aren't you?_

Weiss's cheeks take on a shade of scarlet.

_I'll take it though. I'm Neo, though I'm sure you know that. Professional ass kicker at your service._

Neo does a mock bow.

_I enjoy ice cream, fighting, and lording victory over my fallen foes. Is there anything you want to ask me?_

"Why?"

_Why what?_

"Why this? Why me? I don't get it."

 _I think you're cute. And I think we both enjoyed that time I was on top._  Neo's eyes flash between colors, as a wink and a smile coalesce across her features.

Weiss was no stranger to flirting, and being hit on. Being the beautiful daughter of a rich businessman put her in the sights of many unwanted suitors. This was something different, before, there were rules. Subtlety was an important art to be called upon. No one was ever this "in your face" about it. Hammering the point home every other sentence. Constantly assaulting her with blatant innuendos.

So Weiss's blush reddened, her rear shifting in her seat. She attempts a different angle of attack.

"So where did you grow up?"

_The urban wilderness._

Her gaze is drawn to Neo's light lips, a frown darkening the face of Weiss's tormentor. Wrong question, try again.

"How about school?" The taps above the scroll across from her turn harder.

 _Roman's School of Hard Knocks._  Weiss begins to freeze up, Neo giving her a small huff. Rolling her eyes, Neo pivots her attention back to the ice cream in front of her.

Her hand brings the spoon to the tip of her mouth, parting slightly, her tongue extending outward to caress the spoon. Weiss's focus is drawn to Neo's lips, ice cream dripping across their smooth shining surface. Slivers of pink, white, and brown leave rivulets of color, tainting the delicate lips they trail over. Dryness spreads through Weiss's mouth. Neo's mouth envelops the spoon, draining their contents. She begins to twist the spoon, relieving it of the tantalizing treat it once held, the distensions in her throat visible to her bewitched beholder. Feeling a heatwave establish itself upon her, the onlooker's skin flushes, her breath shortening as the suggestive exhibitionist continues her assault on the senses. The spoon is dragged deliberately from the flesh encircling it, a lingering slurp departing as it withdraws.

A rogue finger finds its way up to the dirtied lips, dragging its edge alongside, in an attempt to collect the remaining cream. Mismatched eyes affix themselves to the opposing depths of light-blue. A tongue reaches out, greeting the digit invading it's territory, moving to retrieve the leftovers provided. Now engulfed, the finger swivels and arcs, removing itself with a satisfying plop. Not yet done cleansing, the tongue makes its way across the lips, making sure to leave no trace behind.

Weiss swallows air and licks her dried lips, her eyes still trapped against the gaze that immersed her in that lascivious display of consumption. In an effort to recover whatever grace she may have left, she poses one last question to the salacious girl.

"What is your, uh, favorite flavor of ice cream?"

The pair's eyes disconnect, Neo's looking to the ceiling, as if the answer to the question lay upon it. Time slows to a halt, her chair tipping back as she seems to search for the answer in the tiles above. After what seems to be minutes, Neo draws her eyes upon Weiss again, one hand remaining on the table, the other methodically typing out what could only be the result of her examination.

The scroll in Weiss's hand buzzes.

_Heiress_

\- And Weiss's mind went blank.

Leering at the white-haired girl, Neo pushes her stool out, taking her dishes across the room, her gait betraying her success. Leaving the soiled bowl and spoon in the sink, she makes her way back towards the table, watching Weiss continue to stare at the scroll. The seat where she settled before empty, as she took her place beside Weiss, breaking her out of the state of catatonia that she was in.

Startled by the new source of heat beside her, Weiss attempts to refocus her consciousness. She is on a date with an assassin. A very hot assassin. No, this was not a date, this was just her being called upon to fulfill her debt. And Neo was not a very hot assassin, she was a dangerous psychopath, wasn't she? No thought keeps form long enough to become coherent, instead the imagery she has just been subjugated to runs through her imagination again and again. Her train of thoughts is derailed by another buzz from her scroll.

_I'm looking for some dust, and your father has been less than helpful, think you have any ideas on where I could get some?_

In an instant, Weiss's mind sobers up. Business time. Moreover, its her final chance to say no, her final chance to keep her morals above water. And the answer could not be more clear. No. She could lie. What business would the heiress of the SDC have dealing with the knowledge of dust shipments (though she did know)? Why would an aspiring huntress give away valuable information to a dangerous criminal (because she would die)? Who would fall for such an oblique attempt at sexual persuasion (she would)? No, she should not allow her debtor to extricate such intel, and her father...

\- And Weiss cracked.

Her father would be disappointed. No, that is incorrect. He would be furious. A feeling of euphoria washed over her at the thought. But what could he do? She was out here, being tortured by 10 pounds of crazy in a 5 pound bag. He had no control over here, and he certainly would not be helping if he did. For the first time since she had left Atlas, she realized she had power. She could get back at him for all of the abuse he had put her through. All those parties she was paraded out for, all of the concerts she was forced to cancel, all of those beatings she was forced to endure, they would be paid out in dust, at a rate that would make drive the Atlesian government into a frenzy.

A smile settles upon her face.

"I think I might know about a shipment or two."

Neo's face mirrors Weiss.

Recalling the details of the latest movements of dust, Weiss begins her betrayal. Details are tapped away into a scroll as she verbally sketches out the details of cargo freighter routes, and of the security protocols they implement. And then the vulnerable points in the paths taken, the unfixed flaws in those protocols. Each detail brings release to her soul, removing bindings long established upon her heart. She finishes up her long winded answer, and breathes in. She would do enough damage to force her father to take her seriously, and establish a good working relationship with the underworld in the process.

_Perfect. I'll send you information about where to meet me to grab the dust._

"What?" Her heart pauses.

"I'm not going to help you rob my own company."

Neo rises from her spot, the cold creeping back into Weiss's side.

_Oh? From the way you were describing it, it sounded like you wanted to do it yourself. Regardless of whether or not you attend, I'll send you the time/place. My money is you showing up though._

Neo looks to the clock.

_Well our time is up love. I'll see you next time._

A hand is offered and Weiss takes it, rising out of her seat and her feet carrying her automatically towards the door. She moves to exit the store, but feels a tap on her shoulder before she can leave. She turns around, seeing an outstretched hand asking for a handshake, an innocent smile adorning the girl who is offering. Weiss goes to accept the handshake, only to find herself pulled forwards. Her eyes widen as she feels their lips touch for but a second, and then she is pushed out the door, left in the dead of night. Exhaustion besets her as she trudges her way to her arrangements for the next few hours.

* * *

On the inside of the shop, Roman breaks the silence.

"So I take it that went well?"

He watches as Neo turn towards him, a sadistic grin plastered across her face. She brings her hands up and gestures towards him.

_Let's get you back home. I need a little bit of private time to take care of myself._

Roman shakes his head and hits the lights.

* * *

After enduring a grueling lack of sleep before the bullhead back to Beacon, Weiss softly opens the door to her room. Though tired beyond belief, she tries to sneak quietly into her bed. A loud whistle pieces her ears, causing her to shudder and run towards her bed.

"I never knew you liked to party Ice Queen," Yang shouts.

\- And Weiss shattered.

"Fuck. Off."

Weiss crashes into her bed, rendering herself unconscious despite the shouts of her team leader complaining about her language and the boisterous laughter running through Yang's throat.

This would be the first time Weiss ever skipped class.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Authors Note:
> 
> Hi guys, thanks for tuning in again. This came out quite quickly, but don't expect that to be the norm. I'm planning on doing a release every 2 weeks so I don't accidentally burn out. As much as I appreciate my current beta, they've said while they can do what they can, they're not guaranteed for any timeline. As such, I am looking for a beta/proofer so if you're interested, send me a message!


	3. Some Recovery on the Roof

"And after finishing the twelve beowolves with style, I turned to the two deathstalkers behind me and started..." Port's voice droned across the room.

\- Weiss was still a bit shaken.  

Weiss had missed class yesterday, something she oft not have done before.  Her thoughts are being conquered by the recent series of events that have led her to her current predicament.  The "date" that she had gone on had certainly changed things for her.  Giving away company secrets, fighting for her life and losing, and being the target of sexual advances from a seasoned criminal are not really things she expected to take part in before coming to Beacon.

And so her thoughts turn to dealing with the consequences of yesterday.  Weiss still needs to deal with her absence from school: appeasing Ruby, and catching up on her workload.  She could probably shift the blame of her absence on to her father. It's not like Ruby would be able to question the man to corroborate her story.

Speaking of her father, he can't be allowed to find out that she's given away important business information to a criminal, regardless of whether or not her father has worked with them in the past.  Maybe she should go with Neo to make sure no evidence of Weiss's involvement are left?  While Neo is clearly an experienced larcenist, surely it can't hurt to be cautious?  After all, if you want something done right, you should do it yourself.  

That still doesn't deal with the bigger issue at hand, whether or not she really wants to go against her father.  She was always supposed to be the one to inherit the company, and she didn't really want to screw that up now.  He was still angry about her choice to go to Beacon enough as it is, and she hasn't really been responding to his calls lately either.  While normally she wouldn't care that much about this, the conditions surrounding her everyday life have changed drastically in the past week.

Weiss rubs her temples.  Just remembering the series of unfortunate events that led to her current situation gives her a headache. Almost failing the tests that she hadn't studied for.  Dealing with the flirtations of a smooth criminal.  Putting up with Ruby for hours on end.  Watching a beautiful woman lewdly devour her ice cream.  Finding out Torchwick could get of Atlas's grasp whenever he wanted.  Feeling the warmth of soft lips on her mouth, her heart pounding from the heat of the body pressed against…

A buzz in her pockets breaks her out of her reverie.

_ Just a heads up love, if you want to tango with me, I'm going to need you to learn some basic CSL. Hit me up when you've decided, my lovely heiress. _

Weiss's stomach drops.  It's really happening.  It's not that she didn't think it was before, but she kind of wrote it off as a fever dream from the excitement of battle and the exhaustion that followed.  She is losing her control over her life again, and although she wasn’t back to being a puppet for her father, the whole point of coming to Beacon was to follow her own whims and goals.

But what  **are** her goals?  She has never really gotten the chance to think that over, as in the past she was much more concerned getting out from under the thumb of her father.  She has always assumed she would take over as the head of the company when her father passed, and she isn’t inclined to change her future if that is the case.  Unlike Ruby, she didn’t want travel around as a Huntsman as her attendance at Beacon was only a means to end.

_ I guess getting to know Roman is a step forward towards taking over from my father. _

\- Weiss realized her ambitions.

She lets out a small chuckle at the irony; her father would be proud regardless of whether or not she intended it.  Refocusing, she re-reads the text she received again.  She might as well go, if not but to better acquaint herself with Neo.  CSL?  Weiss decides that her next stop might as well be the library, to catch up on studying and figure out whatever this “CSL” is.  She lets out a sigh, catching the attention of the Professor as the bell rings for the end of class.

"I too, was disappointed in the lack of attention I was granted for my achievements, Weiss," Port says.

The class lets out a chuckle, as Weiss’s face goes red.  She gets up quickly, and runs off to the library.

 

* * *

Weiss arrives to the library out of breath, her pace having been dictated by the embarrassment of being called out by Professor Port.  She looks around the library, at first moving to ask the attendant at the counter about CSL, but then spots Blake already sitting at a table, with a book in hand.   _ How does she get here so fast?! _  After walking over, she taps Blake on the shoulder, who jumps and shuts her book.

“Reading porn in the library?  How risqué.”

Blake turns around and glares at Weiss.

“It’s not porn.”

The two stare at each other for a few seconds, before Weiss breaks away, and lets out a small laugh.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t resist.”

Blake watches Weiss’s face for a few more seconds, before turning back to her book.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of your company, Princess Schnee?”

It was Weiss’s turn to glare, but Blake chuckles as she keeps reading.

“I guess I deserve that one.  I was wondering if you knew what CSL was?”

“Common Sign Language, probably.  What context was it in?”

Weiss paused for a moment, realizing she had to come up with a viable excuse for why she was asking.  It isn’t like she could just say  _ “Oh, I’m just learning to communicate with a gorgeous woman who almost killed me on a train.” _  When in doubt, blame family.

“My father gave me a list of languages to learn from.  Something about making me more attractive to suitors, I try not to listen too hard.  Obviously he didn’t vet the list very well, because CSL isn’t exactly a  _ high society  _ language.  Though now I know which one I’m going to learn.  Something tells me he won’t be happy about my choice.”

Weiss smiles as she hears Blake let out a snort.  Although the reasons were different, the two teammates could agree on was how horrible Weiss’s father was.  And while she did empathize with Blake’s reasons, it did take a lot of critical thinking and research to get there.  Luckily, her friend was willing to help out in both aspects of the process.

“Well then, I’m off to find books on the subject.  Take care Blake.”

“You too Weiss, I know how rare it is for you to miss class.”

\- Weiss warmed to the words she heard.   


The sound of her footsteps stutter, a small grin adorning her face as she makes her way towards the section of the library where the books she is searching for would be.

* * *

Carrying the latest comic in his favorite series, Jaune walks out of the stacks with the intention of finding a place to sit.  Looking around, he sees Weiss moving her hand around and looking confused.  Recognizing the attempts at signing, he walks over, and sits across from her.  He brings up his right hand to chest level as she looks up at him.

_ Hello _ , he signs.

She gets a confused look on her face at first, and then inspiration strikes her.  She clumsily signs back.

_ Hello. _

He giggles a bit at her clear unfamiliarity with the language, which she frowns at in turn.  He takes a second to reach over and lift up the book she reading, so he can look at the cover.

“That book is no good.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m talking about the one you’re reading.  If you want to learn to sign, that one is a pretty bad.  It teaches you words in a really weird order, completely forgets about the alphabet, and doesn’t really explain the grammar.”

She looks at him, nonplussed.

“You know how to sign?”

“I do.  One of my sisters went deaf, so my family had to pick it up. I picked it up the fastest, so I ended up I being the one to teach most of my siblings how to sign.  Had to spend a lot of time reading books in the library to get the hang of it.”

Mulling over Jaune’s story, Weiss envisions herself with his sister’s condition.  If Weiss had gone deaf, her father would probably have disowned her as soon as it happened.   Winter’s military duties would’ve prevented any time from being available to help Weiss acclimate, and Whitley might use it as a chance to get in his father’s good graces.  The fragility of her position as heiress becoming apparent causes her stomach to turn..

“If you ever needed a  _ hand  _ learning how to sign, I could lend you one.” Jaune says, doing his best to keep a straight face.

Weiss lets out a soft chuckle, her face turning pensive as she seriously considers the thought.  If Jaune taught all of his sisters how to sign, presumably he must be a decent teacher at this point.  And language is one of those skills that is mainly useful in the context of communicating, which generally requires two people.

“Ok.”

“What?!”  A shush springs forth from the library counter, to which Jaune’s mouth twists into a grimace.

“You offered to help me, no?  What would your father say if he heard you refused a fine young lady’s request for help?”

Weiss knew it is a bit manipulative to call upon his family this way, but she isn’t going to pass free help up, the person lending the help notwithstanding.  She adds a small smile, though not the kind that one might tell a joke with, rather one tinted with a taste of severity and a willingness to use extortion.

“Uh, sure, it’s just…  Well, let’s move to another spot, the library is a bit of a mismatch for my teaching style.”

“Lead the way, Jaune.”

 

* * *

Weiss looked out over the courtyard, taking in the view from the roof.

“I’ll be honest with you, Weiss. I didn’t think you’d want my help, especially after… the way I acted towards you before.”

“Do  _ we _ have anything to worry about now? Aren’t  _ we _ both past whatever infatuation you had with me by now?”

While it had frustrated her when it was going on, it certainly wasn’t the  _ worst  _ way a man has tried to enter a relationship with her.  Some of the suitors back at her father’s parties were significantly more…  unpleasant and aggressive, to say the least.

“NO!  I mean, no.  I’m over that, though I guess I haven’t apologized for it yet.”  Jaune turns to face her.  “Weiss, I’m sorry for ignoring your feelings and bothering you in an attempt to get you to go out with me.”

Weiss is taken aback, a heartfelt apology was not what she was expecting.  The apologies of high society were mostly a farce to satisfy social norms, to which she was no stranger.  Apologies inside her family were a different type of fake, but still fake nonetheless.  Weiss turns to face Jaune, intent on returning the sincerity Jaune has shown her.

“I accept your apology, Jaune.”

After a moment passes, she turns back to the view of the courtyard.  Jaune stares at her for a bit, before turning to watch the same view.  A steady silence descends upon the two, both unsure of what to say next.  After a few minutes, Jaune takes the plunge.

“Well then, let’s start with the alphabet.  It’s a good base to start with, though a bit inconvenient for talking one on one.”

Taking her notebook out of her bag, Weiss opens to a blank page, and with a pen ready, looks back at Jaune, who is beginning his lesson.

* * *

_ J A U N E _

“Good job, now do your name.”

_ W E I S S _

Staring at her wrist, Weiss gives it a bit of a shake, trying to stretch it out a bit.  As troubled as Jaune is with his studies in Beacon, he is intimately familiar with sign language and its teaching.  His teaching was well rehearsed and easy going, leading her to quickly pick up what they were covering.

“For this lesson, Weiss, I’ll give you an…” Jaune pauses, and then gestures at her.

_ A _

Practical teaching, something Weiss could get behind, giving her teacher a nod and a small smile.

“So you taught all seven of your sisters how to sign?”

“And my mother and father.”

A wistful smile appears on Jaune's face, and it brings a small pang of envy to Weiss.  She wishes that thoughts of her own father might have brought such a smile on her face, but instead all she feels is anger.  And while she did miss her sister, they were never that close to begin with, the difference in age and the requirements of being the heiress preventing any deeper relationship.  Her brother seemed to take too much after their shared paternal figure, leading to a strain in that area as well.  

“Tell me about them.”

Both of them are startled, Weiss’s hand moves to touch her mouth.  Silence takes hold for a few seconds.

“Sure.”

Jaune begins to describe his daily life back at home.  Memories of waking up in the morning, rousing his sisters from their various states of sleep.  Feeling the warmth of the stove as he helped his mother make breakfast for the entire family.  The awareness of making sure that all of his younger siblings to school safely.  The boisterous noises of hanging out in the arcade with the older ones after school.  The cozy atmosphere of a family dinner, talking to both his mother and his father about the day.  Going to sleep with a small smile of satisfaction, awaiting a new day.

Weiss closes her eyes listening to the story as Jaune tells it, taking part in a day dream.  She imagined her sister walking around Atlas, after school with her.  Her father cooking a homemade meal, bringing her into help watch the oven.  Her brother asking for lessons in one of her hobbies.  As he finishes, she opens her eyes.  Where his family worked together, hers used the staff to prevent interaction.   Her dinners were cold and silent, her siblings distant and unaffectionate.  School was not about learning or enjoying herself, instead it was about making sure the family looked proper in public.  Even now, her father’s calls, though ignored, were not for her wellbeing, but rather to make sure she was acting in accordance with his wishes.

“Have you talked to them recently?”

He gives off a sigh.

“No…  I haven’t talked to them since I left.”

“Why not?” Her ice cold words gnaw at him, the scowl on appearing on her face forcing Jaune to cower.

“They… they never wanted me to become a Huntsman.  My father refused to let me enroll in combat school, and refused to give me any form of training.  My mother stood by his decision.  It was really… really hard to go against them.  It wasn’t like they didn’t love me, or I didn’t love them, but they were stopping me.  I had to steal my family’s weapon, and grab forged transcripts to get in here.  It wasn’t my most shining moment, but it’s always been my dream to become a Huntsman.”

Jaune’s talk of dreams hit Weiss like a sledgehammer.   Weiss never thought she’d see the day where Jaune beat her at something, but she was clearly outmatched here.  Jaune had forsaken a great family life to pursue what he wanted, that kind of sacrifice wasn’t something Weiss was familiar with.  Did she want to continue to be the heiress of her father’s making or did she want to take control of what was rightfully hers?  She wanted her life, and the company too, and her new acquaintance would be a fine tool in maneuvering herself into power.

The door behind them opens, as Pyrrha steps onto the roof.  She does a double take as she notices Weiss sitting next to Jaune.  The two turn to face her as she starts to frown.

“Hello Jaune.  Hello… Weiss,” Pyrrha says.

“Oh man, I lost track of time,” Jaune says, then turns back to Weiss. “Weiss, I gotta do some training with Pyr for now, I hope my teaching was helpful to you.”

“Don’t worry Jaune, you were very helpful.  I await our next session,” Weiss responds. “Pyrrha, I hope your training with Jaune continues on, he’s shown much improvement recently.”

Taking the notebook open beside her and putting it in her bag, Weiss gets up to leave, passing Pyrrha as she leaves.  She hears Pyrrha mumble something, but she continues onward, the look on Pyrrha’s face leading her to believe that she should extricate herself from the situation as soon as possible.

* * *

“I hope she’s not playing you, Jaune,” Pyrrha mutters under her breath.

“Did you say something Pyrrha?” Jaune says.

“No, let’s begin your training,” Pyrrha offers him a hand up, “Shall we?”

 

* * *

_ Fine, I’ll be in attendance.  I have certain procedures in mind as to how this should be done, as this is my company we are robbing. _

The message burned her eyes, the fire of rebellion within it taunting her into sending.  Rather than just struggling to remove herself from her father, Weiss would be actively attacking her father’s authority to assert her own aspirations.

\- And Weiss decided to push forward.

And it felt fantastic.  The small taste of freedom she has been allowed has changed Weiss, she thirsted for more.  And with what had started as a seemingly terrible capture at the hands of a seductress, opportunity has knocked, and Weiss is answering the door, preparing for war.

She picks up her phone and sends the message to its treacherous destination.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the delay. Got busy during holiday season. I'm moving soon so it's likely that the next chapter won't be until 3 weeks from now. Thanks for reading!


	4. Training in Forever Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weiss deals with the fallout with Ruby, and trains with Neo.

A buzz from Weiss’s scroll breaks her out of sleep.  After reaching over and grabbing the scroll, she rubs the sleep from her eyes and opens her scroll.

_Do you even know how to rob a train?_

While in hindsight she should have predicted a response like this, Weiss genuinely didn’t expect that this line of conversation would occur.  She was accustomed to her grandstanding being unchallenged, and others putting up with her haughtiness. But Neo is correct, Weiss does not have much experience in railroad larceny, and she is not such a fool to presume herself clever enough to execute a successful heist without any experience.

_I may have not robbed anyone before, but I’m sure some of the dinner parties I’ve had to plan are more complex.  There isn’t much that evades me if I put my mind to it._

That didn’t mean she had to say it though.

_I bet there’s not much that evades your tutors either ;)_

_It’s not like I could get a tutor for theft._

_Actually, I happen to be available for teaching. And for you, my heiress, the lessons are free._

_I do hope your hours are not in the middle of my beauty sleep again. The last time we met up, I had a ruinous day._

_Don’t worry about it, I’ll come to you this time._

_What the hell is that supposed to mean?_

Weiss stares at her scroll for five more minutes, waiting for a response.  With no response forthcoming, she turns her scroll to silent and tosses it back on to the nightstand.

* * *

-Weiss was in a decent mood.

“Ruby Rose, there is no need to rush!  The cookies will be there when we get there!”

Halting her run, Ruby turns around to face Weiss, and walks back over with a huge smile on her face.  As much of a pain in the ass she is sometimes, Weiss can’t help it when her face moves to match her partner’s.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you sooooo much Weiss!  I’ve been dying to try these cookies, but between school supplies and modifying Crescent Rose, I’ve not really had the money to get any!”

“It really isn’t a problem Ruby, I owe you a lot after all.”

This wasn’t a lie.  As much as she found fault with the way Ruby acted, Weiss was grateful that the young leader never gave up trying to become her friend.  Even now, she lived a little bit through Ruby’s boundless energy and endless enthusiasm.  Though it wasn’t a replacement for the childhood Weiss herself had lost, it will make up for her upbringing in the meantime.  And what good was the wealth of her family if it wasn’t spent making someone happy?

As the pair walk down the stalls, Weiss notices a short girl at an ice cream stall, tapping away at her scroll with one hand, and doing unspeakable things to the ice cream held in her other.  Her gaze drifts down to the girl’s midriff, but a buzz in her pockets prevents her from continuing her visual expedition.

Coming to a stop, she reaches her hand in to her pocket.

_Neo_

Her stomach turns.  This was supposed to be quality time with her team leader.  Something to help make up for all the time Weiss has spent avoiding her for the past few days.

-Weiss had to lie, again.

“Ruby, can we stop for a second…  My father has sent me a text I cannot put off this time.  I’m going to need a moment to deal with it.”

Slowing down, Ruby’s expression goes overcast, the light in her eyes fading a little bit.  As if the act of letting Ruby down wasn’t enough, seeing the pain in her partner… Well it wasn’t something she would ever do intentionally, anymore.

_Hey lovely, time for training. So ditch the little chickie and come on over._

Realization strikes her.  Neo is manipulating her again.  

Neo is forcing her into yet another tough situation.  But Weiss can't just keep forsaking her team every time Neo has a whim.  Ruby's already on her case about all of her recent absence, and Yang is about to get involved.  If Yang gets involved, well...  Nothing good will come of that.

 _Wait a second._ She sends her response.

Weiss looks up to see the girl she was examining before staring back at her.  The blood drains out of her face as everything clicks into place.  She's being treated like a toy, a show just put on for the enjoyment of her tormentor.

She stops for a second and takes a deep breath.

This needs to end, she can't continue expending _this_ much energy dealing with fallout.  Weiss will have to put her foot down, and set up some boundaries.  Her face flushes a bit.  This sounds like a good plan.  From what she's dealt with so far, Neo isn't the kind of person to just kill her in broad daylight.  Especially since she's still so useful.

_I'll let you know when I'm ready to train.  I have other things to attend to at the moment._

With a smirk on her face, a necessary show of bravado, Weiss looks back at Neo, watching her as she reads the message.  A frown covers Neo's face, her fingers dancing across her scroll.  Weiss's own buzzes again.

_Do you think you're in a position to be telling me what to do?_

Of course not.

_I have more obligations than just to you.  If you need me so bad, why not just take me yourself?_

Neo stares at her scroll.

And stares some more.

And smiles.

_Sounds good princess.  Rolling over like a dog doesn't suit you anyway._

With a flourish, Neo finishes her ice cream, and vanishes into the crowd.  Shutting down her scroll, Weiss turns to face Ruby.

"I'm sorry to say, but business from my father requires me to cut this short."

"Oh come on Wei-"

"But don't worry, a Schnee is allowed to be fashionably late, regardless of what my father intends."

It takes a moment for Ruby to parse this, but when she does, she grabs Weiss's hand and drags her towards their destination.  Not wanting to hold Ruby up, Weiss increases her speed so as not to trip.

"I want an extra cookie Weiss!"

A sigh escapes Weiss's lips.

"Yes, Ruby."

* * *

"Thank you for the cookies Weiss! But you're not completely off the hook yet. We're gonna talk about what’s going on with you and your father!"

Dancing around Ruby's inquiries into Weiss's father’s errands required an enormous amount of mental fortitude. She had a way with weaseling it into every topic switch and derailment that Weiss tried. And though she had once thought Ruby wasn't fit to be a team leader, it was moments like these that made her remember how wrong she was.

With Ruby out of the way, Weiss retrieves her scroll and begins to draft a message, but is interrupted when she feels a tap on her shoulder. Startled, she spins around to see Neo staring her in the face. Before she can utter a word, Neo takes her lips and gives her a small kiss. Stunned by the heat of Neo's seductive body pressing against her, she struggles to gather her thoughts as Neo grabs her hand and drags her out of the festival.

Once Weiss has recovered, her face flushes, and then she goes cold. The implications of Weiss Schnee and an unknown girl kissing in public. The cold anger of her father. The barrage of questions from her team.

-Weiss turned to unadulterated fury.

"What was that?! Do you have no morals?! Do you know who I am?! What kind of consequences I may have to face for your... your... your affections?! Did you even realize we were in public?!"

Neo pulls out her scroll, and begins typing on it with one hand. Weiss's anger subsides a bit, as the cool breeze of the forest passes over. The deft manipulation of the scroll captures Weiss's attention, until it's shoved straight into her face.

_So its ok if its in private? :3_

Weiss blushes.

"I didn't say that."

...

"Were you following us?"

A nod.

"Of course you were. There's no way I would get off so easy."

Weiss huffs. Realizing she's holding someone else’s scroll, she returns it to Neo's free hand. Finally calming down, she looks around to see the beginnings of Forever Fall. Not the worst place to train, but not the best either. The training room in Beacon has a lot more amenities than a forest. But unlike the forest, it’s full of people.

"So how long will this 'training' take?"

_Depends on how long the initial spar takes. I'd say 4-6 hours though. There's a lot to go over._

Grimacing, Weiss groans.  Ruby won't be happy with her returning that late yet again, and Yang will probably be pissed off by proxy.  Blake won't say anything, but the look of disappointment generally says enough.

"I take it the topics we will be covering aren't suitable for the library or the training room?"

Another nod, and then they come to a halt.  Neo lets go of Weiss's hand, and turns around to face her.  Sliding her scroll in her pocket, Neo throws out a taunt at Weiss.

"So we start with a spar then?"

By the time Weiss finished her sentence, Neo had already disappeared.  The spar has begun.

* * *

-Weiss was beaten down.

Looking up at the sky, Weiss wonders what she's done to deserve this.  She got her ass kicked.  The Neo she just fought was someone different than who she fought on the train.  She had actually landed some blows on Neo then.  Now, she had done absolutely nothing.  Weiss began to comprehend how truly outmatched she was.  She feels a scroll hit her stomach.

_We've got a lot of work to do to bring you up to par.  While you've got great form and somewhat smart movement, your lack of strength and endurance really prevents you from getting a leg up on your opponent.  We also need to work on your unarmed and your unassisted by semblance fighting, as those aren't always going to be available to you._

Another buzz.

_While you do play to your strengths, you need to get to the point where you don't have to think about your plan of action.  Your reactions are slowed because you don't have the tactical memory that you might need.  You also need to pay attention to how your opponent chooses to fight, and angle your decisions based on that._

And another buzz.

_So let’s talk about how we can hone your skills.  We'll do a lot of stuff now, but you'll need to find another place and time to practice without me. I'm a busy lady after all.  For strength and endurance you'll have to talk to that blondie- "You mean Yang?" - with the big boobs.  If you've seen those delicious abs, then you know she knows what she is doing._

And another.

_So we'll start off with some basic unarmed fighting, without your semblance.  After about 1-2 hours of that, we'll integrate your semblance, and then work on getting some more muscle memory practice into your norm- If that is her name, then yes. -al training routine.  After that we'll talk about specifics when it comes to robbing this train._

And one last.

_But first, I'll give you a five minute break.  I need to tidy myself up a bit, and you probably want to get a couple glasses of water.  You'll find the water and some other snacks behind the tree behind you.  While you’re waiting, feel free to watch me change~_

Looking up, Weiss sees Neo walk over to a tree and pull out a bag.  Checking behind her, she finds a similar bag with snacks and water inside. Neo was right.  She needs water.  Opening one of the bottles and taking a drink, the water feels divine on her tongue, refreshing her spirit.  And she proceeds to dump the whole bottle down her throat.  She opens a second, and turns back around to the sight of Neo taking off her clothes.  

-And she choked.

She sees the dirty smile that graces Neo's face.  More teasing.  She needs to get used to the way Neo acts or she's going to die of a heart attack.  But now that Neo's had her fun, she can at least enjoy the show.  Laying with her back against the tree, she removes a granola bar from its wrapper and starts to chew on it while watching.

It's not much of a show though.  Weiss honestly expected Neo to pull a pole out of somewhere and start dancing, to at least irritate her.  But she's still enjoying it, watching the sweat glisten on Neo's bare skin, noticing how the sun highlights the tone of her muscles, gazing at the nape of her neck as she puts her hair into a ponytail.

Her scroll buzzes again.

_Did you enjoy the show?_

"Indeed I did."

A clap echos as Weiss forces her hand to her mouth.  Neo goes wide-eyed for a moment, and then chuckles silently.  Strolling over to Weiss, she grabs Weiss's hand and pulls her up.

_I'm glad.  Let's teach you some fisticuffs, madam._

If Weiss's eyes could roll any harder, she'd probably have to go to the hospital.  Instead she'll have to settle for being put in there by this psycho.

* * *

They start off working on some basic fist fighting form.  To keep the pace of the training from halting, Neo ends up dropping both of their scrolls off in a bag.  Instead of attempting to tell Weiss what to do, Neo illustrates what she wants Weiss to and has her replicate it.  Of course, there are some small mistakes arising from her fencing background, and Neo moves over to her and manipulates her form to fix them.

Feeling Neo touch her, Weiss starts to object to the idea of Neo groping her, but says nothing as her worries become unfounded.  The look that she sees in Neo's eyes is one of sincerity, rather than one of provocation.  Weiss relaxes herself, enjoying the careful movements of Neo's hands over her body.  This is different than the fencing tutors she had, who were careful not to ever touch her, lest they get in trouble.

There was a seriousness in this training that Weiss did not predict.  It was a genuine lesson, which was something she could get behind.  Her partner often lacked the discipline to train with her in practical matters (let alone normal studying), so she took great pleasure in the change of pace with her new practice partner.  

-Weiss focused on the training.

* * *

"I think we should move on to something else at this point."

Neo pauses, her hands still on Weiss's hips. They were making good progress, but there are still other things they need to attend to. As she removes her hands and walks over to grab their scrolls, Weiss relaxes her muscles. The past three hours had overloaded her, her mind needs time to mull over the skills she had just been taught. she is keen on integrating it into her normal practice routine.

Interrupting her thoughts, she hears a snap and turns to Neo, catching the scroll she had been tossed.

_Refresh yourself. You picked up the subtle aspects much faster than I was expecting you to. And the  technical control you have over your body, well, I'm a little bit jealous of it._

"You should have expected no less of a Schnee like myself!"

Unaccompanied by the normal scowl that might grace that boast, she wears a warm smile. Taken aback at first, Neo gives her a scowl, but upon noticing Weiss's expression, she breaks into a voiceless giggle. Satisfied with her audience’s enjoyment of her jest, Weiss takes a swig of water, and lays against the tree once again.

_Of course, my dear heiress. Truly I should have expected no less of a lady as prim and proper as yourself. Please forgive my lapse of judgement!_

Caught off guard, Weiss lets out a snort, letting water spray out of her mouth. Embarrassed by her lack of grace, she quickly wipes up the mess on her dress. She watches Neo double over in laughter, so she clears her throat and moves on.

"So what should we move on to next?"

_Let's check up on your progress with CSL. I'm going to sign a sentence, you let me know what you understood of it._

Hands moving deftly, Weiss watches as Neo signs a short sentence. She understood some of it, but Neo is definitely teasing her.

"I'm pretty sure I got 'want', 'over there', and 'go'. I don't think I know the last one, but I think I can infer what you were saying. No, I would not like to go over there and fuck."

A sigh from Weiss and another giggle from Neo.

_Jokes aside, let's try something we would actually need in combat._

This time, Neo signs something longer and more complex.

"That was a bit more difficult, but, I think I got the gist? Something like 'Cover our back?' 'there's a something something coming and I need to something'? I got lost after that point."

_That should have been 'Cover our 6, there's a group of guards coming, and I'm still not done picking this lock." That's a bit better than I expected though. I'll give you a book with some of the slang I tend to use. I signed pretty slowly there, so you'll have to practice your reading speed. Do you have a practice partner?_

"I actually found someone who was fairly well versed, and available for teaching. I'll bring the book to our next lesson, and ask him to focus on reading speed."

 _Sounds good. At this point focus on_ **_listening_ ** _, as I can still hear you speak after all._

"Understood."

_Onto the stealing. Since this is your first time, we're going to keep it simple. Normally Roman and I would take over the train and disengage the carriages we're interested in with some help, but I can't take Roman out for this and I don't think the White Fang would take too kindly to working with you._

Weiss nods. While she had agreed to this, thinking about it still makes her a little gun shy. Dipping her toe in the pool with a less risky plan sounds a bit more pleasant. The way her father threw her to the sharks left a bad taste in her mouth. Hijacking some high value dust sounds like a good way to hit him where it hurts.

_We'll hit the last carriage, grabbing whatever's the most valuable in there, and leave. The main roadblocks will be entering and leaving the station, rather than any of the actual theft._

"I think we should hit a different carriage."

_What?_

"The fourth carriage has the most valuable cargo in that shipment."

_I checked the manifest, all of the carriages are practically the same. Plus, being that close to the station platform means we're more likely to be spotted._

"You know my father, right?  That manifest is dirty little liar.  He would never list ultra pure gravity dust on any official manifest.  I've heard him set up this particular route and timing.  It's definitely going to be there."

Neo stares directly into her eyes, a slight scowl forming.  Weiss knows approximately what was going through Neo's mind at this moment.  Was Weiss attempting to set her up?  

-Weiss wasn't going to let that thought linger any longer.

"I'm not lying to you.  If I was trying to set you up, you'd obviously see this coming a mile away.  I could just set you up at the last carriage, as such in your plan."

But more importantly, she wants to hurt her father.  And this would hit him where it hurts, so to speak.  Though, what might be surprising to most was how it would be slightly safer.  It's unlikely that her father would let the theft go public, as his reputation would be at stake if he were to even appear to have lost such valuable cargo.

But Neo doesn’t need to know that.

_And you didn't tell me before because?_

"Our relationship at that moment was tenuous at best.  It seems like a bad idea to play your entire hand at the start."

_Fair point.  So is that your entire hand?_

"Of course not."

While not strictly a lie, it isn't strictly true either.  That really is the best information Weiss has right now, but she still has avenues she had yet to exhaust to more information.  But again, Neo doesn't need to know that.

_It looks like we'll have to plan around the extra security then.  Is the manifest also wrong about the crew?_

"Not necessarily.  My father won't assign more personnel than normal, to avoid drawing suspicion.  All of the crew members will be at least military or hunter trained though, as he's not willing to place that kind of cargo at that much risk."

Looking up from her scroll, Weiss meets Neo's stare, one she was sure Neo was using to evaluate whether or not Weiss was telling the truth.  The stare down is broken when Neo puts on a slight smirk.

_I'll rework the plan a bit then, and we'll have another short session going over the full plan.  For now, let's cover some of the less pleasant aspects that you'll have to deal with regardless._

"Less pleasant aspects?"

_Mainly, dealing with witnesses._

Weiss crosses her arms.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

_Well, my heiress, for better or for worse, you're a very famous person.  Anyone will recognize you if we get caught, which means bugging out at first sight may not be your best plan of action.  This run isn't like the one's Roman was running.  This is supposed to be a quiet job, we've got no need for public or private panic._

Neo set her own scroll down for a moment, letting the implications sink in for Weiss.

And Weiss was in her very own private panic at the moment.  Of course she didn't think of what would happen if something went wrong, this was the perfect heiress after all!  If there were even rumors that Weiss had tried to steal something from the SDC, consumer confidence would plummet!  She wanted to hurt her father, not the company!  And her father would do everything in his power to get her back in the mansion, and control her every waking moment!

Deep breaths.  Breathe in, one, two.  Breathe out, one, two.

Okay, okay, this is fixable.  Neo could just do it herself.  She is the one has got the experience after all, and there is no risk for Weiss being implicated outside of what Weiss had already considered before.  But... this is an unsatisfying conclusion.  She wants to be the one to damage her father's standing.  It is meaningless if she doesn't take part in this.  She would just be a tool for Neo to get information from.  Does she want to go back to just being a pawn, albeit under another chess master?

-No, Weiss did not.

"So. How do we deal with witnesses?"

_Two ways.  We don't let anyone, and I mean anyone, see you.  If that doesn't work, we'll have to keep them quiet, and likely using a more permanent solution._

Weiss says nothing. Neo closes her eyes and sighs.

_You are going to have to learn how to kill someone. Quietly and cleanly._

"I see."

Neo cocks an eyebrow.

"It doesn't seem like your advocating for murder in the process of theft, and I'm not one who is willing to go in without preparations to deal with outcomes that we know may occur.  That doesn't mean I'm happy about this, though.  I'm not sure I could go through with it anyway, but I'll try to be prepared."

Weiss looks to the trees.

"And it's not like Hunter training shies away from the possibility."

Neo waits for Weiss to continue, but after a minute of silence, she starts typing again.

_Well, let's go over a couple of different methods.  Personally, I carry around a blade specifically for..._

* * *

The walk back from Forever Fall was silent, and lonely.  After the lesson on murder, Neo had let her go on ahead, content to clean up her belongings.  Weiss never really thought about the complexities involved in killing someone quickly.  It took about four minutes to strangle someone apparently.  That was an agonizing amount of time.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she brings to mind the issues and complications she will be dealing with in the next few hours.  Ruby will definitely be unhappy with how late she was in getting back again, and probably more so if rumors about Neo's affection have already made it around the school.  She needed to come up with a good cover story.

Rubbing her temples, Weiss continues her walk back, deep in thought.

* * *

A creak of the door to the room breaks the silence in the team RWBY dorm.

Weiss knows it’s unlikely Ruby is already asleep in bed, but in the case that she is, it is worth a shot.

"Evening, Weiss," Blake says, without looking up from her book.

"Good evening to you too."

"Hey Weiss, are you ready to talk?"

Standing at the other end of the room, Ruby gives Weiss a glare.  It is almost comical, coming from her.  Weiss has seen scarier glares from kittens who had been shooed out of their favorite spot.  At least it wasn't the puppy dog eyes.  Weiss lets out her held breath.  Her walk back through the school grounds lead her to believe no one really caught her and Neo at the festival, otherwise the rumor mill would’ve been out in full force.

"She's been pacing for the past 30 minutes, Weiss.  You should really talk to her," Blake says.

"That's a bit rich coming from you."

Stifling a cough, Blake intensifies her gaze at her book.

"But, no Ruby, I can't say I am."

"Come on Weiss we're a--"

With a motion to cease from Weiss, Ruby stops speaking for a moment.

"My father isn't really an easy topic for me.  He's a lot of the reason I am the way I am now, and the reason I came to Beacon.  As much as you'd like me to dump my psychological problems all over you, I need time.  He still tries his best to infect every part of my life, while I'm attempting to cut him out of it."

Though she generally used her father to excuse Neo's text, the fact remains that he is constantly calling her and texting her looking for a response.

"And it is not that I don't trust you, Ruby.  Or Blake, or Yang for that matter.  This is just a very sensitive issue for me."

Meeting Ruby's eyes, Weiss gives her a somewhat pleading look.  The eyes she's gazing into narrow, but Ruby seems satisfied by her response.

"Okay, but if you need someone to talk to, please come to us first. There's no need to let this blow up."

They both smile.

"And give me a hug!"

Panic spreads across Weiss's face, she moves to leave the dorm again, but is caught by Ruby's arms tightening across her back.  Fidgeting and squirming, she attempts to excuse herself from the hug to no avail.

"Come on, Ruby..."

The girl hugging her says nothing.

"You're better off just returning her hug." Blake grins at Weiss, giving her a wink.  Weiss shoots back an unimpressed glare, but ends up giving in to Ruby's hug.

Pleased with herself, Ruby releases Weiss from her clutches, and returns back to her bunk.  Dusting herself off, Weiss opens the door out of the dorm.

"Is Yang at the gym right now?  I need to ask her a favor."

* * *

"Hello Yang."

To put it mildly, Yang is surprised.  The Ice Queen herself?  In the gym?  Pigs must be flying.  Normally she would snap at someone who interrupted her workout routine, especially since she had practically just gotten started.  But in this case, a thorough questioning is order.

"What are you doing here Weiss?"

"I'd like your help improving my body."

A crack echoes through the gym.

"Yang?!  Why did you slap yourself?!"

"Just wanted to make sure I wasn't dreaming.”  Yang examines her hand, looking for whatever evidence might indicate it was in fact a dream.  “What exactly were you looking for help with?"

Taking a deep breath, Weiss relays the suggestions that Neo had offered her during training.  Though somewhat startling to Yang, the combination of Weiss's very focused look and realistic goals help her understand that this isn't a some sort of elaborate prank.

"Well, lucky for you, you caught me at the beginning of my workout, so we can workout together today.  I'll write you up an exercise routine, and show you the proper form for each of the exercises we'll go through."

Yang looks Weiss up and down.

"While aura will certainly make it faster, it will take a while for you to build the kind of muscle I have.  We'll also have to work on your diet, so be ready for that.  For now though, go get changed, and meet me back here.  I'll put you through hell- I mean see what your limits are right now when you get back."

This is going to be fun.  At least it will be for Yang.  Weiss has never made it so easy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm going to start a schedule now: every 3 weeks on Friday. I'd like to shorten it to every 2 weeks if possible, but I'm unsure if I can keep that pace up. Thanks for sticking around! Next Chapter: February 16th


	5. The Calm before the Storm

Weiss winces in pain, the soreness in her thighs flaring up as she sits down with her team and Jaune's team.

"I'm surprised you haven't bowed out yet.  Color me surprised Ice Queen"

Looking up from her tray full of food, Weiss glares at Yang.  If she didn't know better, she'd have thought that Yang was just torturing her.  But the research she had done only confirmed that  what Yang is putting her through is correct.  And because of that, she would persevere, as Yang was an excellent instructor.

"I can't believe you're making me eat this much."

To other people it may have seemed like a normal amount of food, maybe a bit on the heavier side, but Weiss was used to much smaller portions.  A lady leaves a proper portion of her meal on the table after all.  And while her stomach is slowly getting used to the increase in consumption, she still didn’t think she should have to eat this much.

"If you don't get all your macros, you won't build muscle.  It's a two part process, exercise and diet."

Yang eyes both of their trays.  She continues.

"It's not even really all that much compared to what I or Ruby eat."

"You're like nine inches taller than me. And Ruby practically sustains her hyperactivity on cookies alone."

Both of them look over to Ruby, who pauses with a half eaten cookie in her mouth.  She gives them both a grin, and goes back to her treat.

At least she eats a balanced meal.  Weiss had long given up on it trying to control Ruby's cookie habit.  She'd tried removing them from her partner's possession whenever she noticed, but that just lead to them being hidden.  And with being hidden, came a lot of crumbs, scattered everywhere over the room.  In the end, she settled for helping Ruby not make a mess out of it all.

"You're doing really well for your first week though.  Your form is great, and you haven't given up yet."

"Of course not.  Giving up is not something a Schnee would do."

Yang laughs.

"I guess I don't have to tell you to be proud about it.  Most people who come to me give up a couple of days in, and I went easy on them compared to you."

Not that she'd ever let Yang know, lest she increase her teasing, but those compliments on her progress delight Weiss to no end.  It reminded her of the times with Winter before they had parted.  She would have to show off to her sister the next time they talked.

And the progress Weiss had been making in preparation for this heist is moving forward smoothly.  Between lessons with Jaune, training with Yang, and another sparring session with Neo, the heist this weekend is looking to be a great test for her.  All this work and all of the school work, left her with a great sense of fulfillment.  A busy Weiss was, evidently, a happy Weiss.

Speaking of lessons with Jaune, she directs her focus across the table.

"Are we still on for lessons later, Jaune?"

"He has practice later with me," Pyrrha interjects, a clang sounding from her fork as it drops from her hand.

"And I'm sure we can schedule around those lessons."

The forcefulness in both Pyrrha's and Weiss's voices cause both teams to stop their conversations.  It isn't the first time this week the two had been at each other's throats, but it is the first time Weiss mentioned anything about lessons.

"Wait, hold on now, what lessons?" Yang says, turning at Weiss for clarification.

"Jaune kindly offered to give me lessons on sign language, so I took him up on it."

Looking for an explanation, the rest of the two teams stare at Jaune.  Jumping at the sudden attention, he attempts to put into words exactly what he was thinking when he offered.

"She looked like she was having trouble figuring it out, so I figured I'd offer some help.  I didn't think she'd take me up on it!"

It isn't unreasonable to expect Weiss to decline an offer for help, especially in regards to studying.  Her pride was well-known to all of those present.  Being satisfied by Jaune's answer, they all turn their focus back on to Weiss.

"Is there something that precludes me from receiving help from someone who exceeds my skill in a certain subject?  You all don't think twice when I ask Ms. Goodwitch or Professor Oobleck a question."

"But that's different, they're teachers!" Ruby says.

"I didn't think you liked Jaune very much!" Nora says, Ren nodding his head in agreement.

"When he was attempting to court me, I'd have agreed with you, but now that we've resolved that issue, I didn't see why we couldn't be friends."

The mention of all of his embarrassing attempts to get Weiss to go out with him causes Jaune to wince.  While it is true that the two of them were past that, he did not like remembering all of those silly things.  Especially the "guitar serenade".

Weiss continues.

"And he's a very capable teacher when it comes to sign language.  Isn't that right Jaune?"

A nervous laugh escapes his lips, as he avoids eye contact with the rest of the table.

"It's true.  I ended up teaching my family sign language after one of my sisters lost her hearing in an accident."

The atmosphere at the table tenses, no one wanting to step on Jaune's foot after that revelation.  After a moment of silence, Jaune sighs, and looks around the table.

"It's fine guys, it's just... I haven't really talked to my family since I left."  Noticing that he did not break the ice, he tries to change the subject.  "Anyway, I'm still looking forward to enjoying this festival in its fullest!  Did anyone want to go back into Vale with me to explore the shops this weekend?"

"Ohh, ohh!  Can we stop at the arcade Jaune?! What about..."  Nora starts going on, dragging Ren into her new weekend plans.  Ruby and Yang agree to come with them, as Yang needs school supplies, and Ruby wants to try the new cookie at one of the local bakeries.  Pyrrha nods along to all of this, agreeing to join them on the weekend adventure.

With the rest of the table distracted by the talk of the weekend, Jaune signs to Weiss.

_"I should have some time before Pyrrha to help you out.  Same place as usual?"_

Realizing that she's being signed at, she stops to gather her thoughts and respond. She has made a lot of headway in understanding the language, but her struggles with communicating back... well, it was a work in progress.

_"Sure, I'll see you at the roof then."_

Noticing the silent conversation going on between Jaune and Weiss, Pyrrha interrupts with a question.

"So will you be joining the rest of us this weekend, Weiss?"

Though startled, she maintains her composure, firing back with an almost instant answer.

"Sadly I will not be able to join you all, as much as I'd like to.  My father has requested my assistance with some company matters, and that will likely take up my entire weekend."

She frowns, really trying to sell the lie.

"He's promised me some favors in exchange for this, so I don't really think I can pass up the chance."

"What sorts of favors?  What does he need you to do?" asks Blake.

"The kind of favors I can use to get my way, mainly things like not being forced home during breaks.  And while I wish I could explain more about what exactly he wants me to do, it is the kind of thing that I'm not allowed to talk about to the public."

It isn't that Weiss necessarily likes lying, especially not to her team, but it is just a part of her at this point.  Make it vague enough to sound truthful, but add in details in unimportant parts to make it seem realistic.  Give them a little bit of information that they want to hear, and leave out the kind of details that might pique more interest in the wrong direction.  People tended to pry her for any information at parties, and these types of deflections usually did the trick.

Seemingly satisfied, Blake returns to focusing on her lunch, though it is always hard to tell what she is thinking.  Pyrrha continues to watch her.  If only Jaune would just ask her out already.  The tension between the two of them is drawing a lot of excess attention that Weiss could do without.  Prolonged scrutiny would eventually reveal some of the holes in her fiction, and that would be very problematic.

She does have a plan to eventually tell them the truth, but at this point they would probably just call her crazy.  Or even worse, they would force her to let them help.  That would be a logistical nightmare, not to mention a public relations nightmare, if it ever got out.  Team RWBY and a thief stealing from the Schnee Dust Company?  An unmitigated disaster.  Her father might even kill her.

Enough of that line of thought, it is time to finish her meal.  For some reason, it looks like there is more than she expected?  She had already finished most of it, so why is it still half full?  She had to argue with Yang to cut it down a bit already...

"Damn it Yang!"

As she is sitting down, Yang tries to keep a straight face.

"Come on Weiss, you need a little more meat on those bones!"

* * *

At least they kept the prison bay lit, regardless of the hours.  Though Neo was sure Roman wasn't too happy about that.  They've been trying all week to get him to give up some information, but Roman was all too happy to dance around it with a healthy amount of sarcasm.

And unsurprisingly they kept no cameras in the prison bay, as it isn't like Roman could escape the airship without running into guards anyway.  That is very convenient for her, as she could stroll in whenever she wanted for a nice chat with her best friend.

Her heels clack as she approaches his cell, waking him up from his slumber.

"Really?  Another interrogation in the middle of the night?  Can I please just get some goddamn sleep?"

She stops in front of his cell.  After waiting a moment from a response, Roman tilts his hat up.

"Oh.  Hey Neo.  You wouldn't believe the silly tricks they use to try to get information out of me."

_"I'm sure I wouldn't.  Everybody's methods are different after all."_

After a moment of staring at her, he chuckles.

"Ain't that the damn truth.  So what's up?  Stopping by outside of our schedule must mean something interesting is going on, at least on your end."

He kicks the cell bars to indicate his point.  She goes into her pocket and pulls out a lighter and cigar, and tosses them through the cell bars.  Catching them in each hand, he flicks the lighter open and lights the cigar in one fell swoop.

"You know me so well."

_"I figured that the cell would be boring you."_

"But really, what's up?"

_"My little heiress is turning out better than expected."_

He nods at her to continue.

_"Apparently there is gonna be some ultra pure gravity dust on the train she's set for us to rob.  Once you get out, that'll be a pretty big payday.  And I think she'll have some more useful information after this one."_

"Damn.  That's some fine cargo.  And what do you mean 'us'?"

_"She wants to join me for the robbery."_

The cigar almost falls out of his mouth as he begins to fall over in laughter, the sound echoing throughout the prison bay.  The bars ring as Neo kicks them, trying to get him to shut up.  She didn't really want guards coming into figure out what was going on.  The noise knocks some sense into him, and he recovers from his fit.

"Oh that's just glorious.  The heiress wants to take part in robbing her own company?  Does she even realize how ironic that is?"

_"To be fair, I kind of taunted her in to it.  She probably has a chip in her shoulder from her father."_

"I'm not surprised.  Jacques is a slimy bastard."

A moment of silence passes.  Even for the two of them, Jacques had seemed like a bit much to deal with.  The money wasn’t great, the job was a piece of shit, and his future offers were disgusting.  Indiscriminate murder is not their thing.

_"She is fun to tease though."_

"I noticed last time when I was babysitting you two," he says. Drawing out his words, he continues, "You two are **so** cute together."

She begins to walk away.  Last time he had said that, it hadn't ended well for her.  Another session with Dr. Torchwick?  No thank you. She would rather go back to her apartment and have a nice bowl of ice cream.

"Oh come on, Neo, I think it's good for you."

Her pace slows, but she doesn't turn back around when he starts to speak again.  As much as she hates listening to lectures, Roman does care about her and is at least worth listening to, _usually._

"Have you left your apartment at all while I've been stuck in here?  Your playtime with the heiress notwithstanding."

Neo's shoulders tense to confirm his accusation.  After all these years he really does not have any trouble reading her.

"I thought so.  You need to get out more.  You have less friends than I do, which isn't something to be proud of."

She crosses her arms.  This is, coming from him, a bit rich.  As far as she knows the only person Roman really "hangs out" with is Junior, and Junior hates him.

"You can't let _them_ keep holding you back.  Not everyone is like they were."

She shakes her head.  It always comes back to those old memories, everytime he tries this lecture.  She got her closure a long time ago, and she cannot wait for the day they fall out of her dreams.   Nothing about them was holding her back, and she could not see why Roman refused to see that.

"It's been a decade Neo."

-That was enough for Neo.

She lets the sound of her heels marching away inform him that they are done talking.  She has better things to do than listen to the rest of this lecture again.  And with the plan for this weekend unfinished, she might as well set about the rework required by Weiss's new information.  She wanted to talk to Roman about that, but that is not going to be happening tonight.

He lays back down on the floor.  Letting this go isn't really an option. He has been watching her be stuck on this since the two met.  Last time he had tried to get her out of her shell, well, it did not go so good.

Thievery is more his forte.  Therapy, not so much.  But not only did she refuse to go to therapy, all of the black and grey therapists would not deal with her for any reasonable price.  Thus he continues to be stuck with the job.  Not content to let her go in peace, he leaves her with a parting shot.

"You're not a child Neo, so stop making me act like your goddamn father."

* * *

Whatever doubts Weiss had about Jaune are gone at this point.  Without his incessant attempts at flirting with her, their conversations became one of the highlights of her day.  She hadn't understood what Pyrrha saw in him at first.  Then she almost had to remind him that she was the heiress to the biggest dust company on Remnant.

She didn't though.  Mainly because Jaune sees her for who she is, not who she is supposed to be.  And she would like to keep it that way.

After lessons, their conversations often turned to the things they had enjoyed in the past.

"I've never been to a concert before!  What are they like?"

"Depends, when you're in the audience or when you're on the stage?"

"You've been on stage before?!  That's amazing!  What's it like?  How many times were you out there?  Do you get stage..."

She giggles as he continues his barrage of questions.  These were the kind of moments she could enjoy more of.  The way his eyes light up when she tells stories of her childhood (suitably altered to remove the less savory parts) is phenomenal.  And in return, the way he spins his tales of his family's hijinks makes her feel like she is a part of it all.

He's kind of like the little brother she never had.

If someone had asked her outright, she would have to deny the idea of it on principle.  A Schnee has no use for someone with that kind of unfounded and blind optimism and idealism.  It's simply not profitable, nor sustainable, nor useful.

But that is wrong.  Ruby uses it as her strength to continue moving forwards after her mother's death.  Yang uses it to keep her family together.  Blake uses it to push forward past the oppression and hate the world throws her.  Jaune uses it to power his dreams, regardless of his inexperience.

-But Weiss had use for all of them.

It would be wonderful if she could find that kind of optimism again.  Maybe in time she could.  For now, she would live vicariously through her friends and teammates.  And one day return the favor for what they have all done for her.

"Thanks again for the lessons, Jaune," Weiss says.  The loud footsteps she heard from the stairwell clued her in to the time, and she would rather not have another confrontation with Pyrrha.  She is in such a good mood after all, why spoil it?

"Anytime Weiss.  You're picking this up way faster than I did..."  He walks over to his sword and armor, putting it on as Pyrrha comes on to the balcony.

"Weiss." Pyrrha says.

"I wish you luck with your lesson with Jaune, Pyrrha.  I'm off now."

And with a quick exit, Weiss starts her way back to the dorm.

* * *

It is 10 PM, which means bedtime.  But unlike most nights, the thought of staying up later crosses Weiss’s mind.  After all of these assaults on her sleep from her “partner in crime”, preventing a midnight interruption sounds very pleasant.  

But her scroll going off catches her by surprise.

And what a pleasant surprise it was!  The alternate ringtone and buzz pattern inform her that Neo has chosen not to interrupt her sleep tonight.

 _Since you’ve been_ **_such_ ** _a good student, I’ve decided not to disturb the princess’s beauty sleep.  In addition, I’ve attached a file detailing explaining how this Sunday will go down.  Make sure you read all of it, I’ve got no problem with ditching if you don’t know our entrance and exit strategies._

Opening the attachment only solidifies the grin on her face.  And if nothing else, this is one of the few things that Weiss had truly come to enjoy.

“I just love it when a plan comes together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, thanks for waiting! I’m going to keep on the every 3 week schedule for now. Due to the way the story is progressing and my new ideas, I’ve rewritten the summary and chosen a new title that better fits. Thanks for reading, and please leave a review of almost any sorts! Those reviews make me write faster!


	6. The Heist

The soft light illuminates the steam as it rolls out from the bathroom.  Stepping through an open door, Weiss carefully lays her towel on the desk, folding it in half, and then in half again.  With the brush she brought with her, she takes a moment to straighten her hair. The mirror across from her reflects the calm, measured breaths she uses to keep her focus on what lies ahead.

Finishing her hair, she turns around and stares at the outfit laying on the bed.  To be perfectly honest, it reminds her of something Blake might have worn in days past, and the irony of it all is not lost on her.   Perhaps she should see if Blake could teach her anything? That would probably draw more attention and questions than she probably desired.

The clothes are definitely not something she would be caught wearing in public, the dresses and skirts that make up her usual attire are much preferred to this more casual, more practical wear.

With a sigh, she begins to dress herself.  Pulling her black t-shirt over her head, its soft fabric tightens across her skin, reminiscent of the formal dress that held her captive through dinner parties and company galas.  But unlike the bindings of her past, these do not jail her or weigh her down. They meld with her skin and encourage her to move freely.

The dark jeans slide on with a similar tautness.  Jeans and a t-shirt. How unsophisticated. There were even matching socks and boots.  These look like clothes for someone else’s weekend shopping trip, not the kind of uniform a Schnee would wear while working. 

Scratch that, she is going to rob a train, right?  And this is  _ exactly  _ the uniform a thief wears.  Winter wore appropriate military attire while in the Atlesian army, so why wouldn't Weiss do the same?  While the outfit isn't particularly high quality, it was both available on short notice and incredibly practical.  No complex parts that might interfere with her need for quick and stealthy movements.

Time for the finishing touches.  Turning back to the mirror, she picks up her last two accessories.  The gloves slip on nicely. The balaclava, not so much. After fiddling with her hair, she stares into the mirror.

_ Hey stranger. _

For the first time in her life, she is aiming to  _ not  _ stand out, and the girl returning her gaze in the mirror is completely unrecognizable.  Her identity is drowned out by the complete and utter domination of anonymity provided by the ensemble she has put herself in.

A knock on the door causes her to lose the staring contest she was having with the girl across from her.  She grabs her weapon, the last piece of her Schnee-ness remaining, and opens the door to a pair of mismatched eyes.

_ "Let's hit it." _

* * *

 

-To say Weiss was excited would be putting it mildly.

It is not the most stylish ride she has ever taken, but that did nothing to distract Weiss from all the anxiety flowing through her mind. Even though they have not yet arrived at the station, already her heart rate is soaring, her breathing is heavy, and her thoughts are racing. Is she really about to become a criminal, one complicit in the theft of her family's company property? What if she got caught?! What if she succeeded?!

While Weiss is contemplating her impending doom at her own hands, Neo is trying her very best to concentrate on driving them both to the station. It is not exactly easy to drive in the pitch black of night with no lights on, and the freak out going on beside her is not helping either. It is at times like these, that being unable to speak really became a nuisance.

The lights from the guard station start to peek from the horizon into view. At least now that the drive is done, she can go ahead and stop the newbie from having a panic attack. Pulling off the road, she starts driving towards the planned point of ingress. This feels close enough. The car goes into park, and she leaves the driver's seat, but not before elbowing Weiss.

The sharp pain in her side informs her that they have arrived. She tries to shoot Neo a dirty look, but the closed door that takes the shot seems to be unaffected by her expression. At least her mind is a little bit clearer now. She gets out of the car.

_ "Are you ready? We've got about 5 minutes before we need to start moving." _

"Let me breath for a bit, and then I'll be ready."

_ "You'll do fine love. I'm here to guide you through your first time." _

Cracking jokes even now, huh? Well, if Neo was so confident about it, there was no reason for her to be so nervous either. She nods at Neo.

_ "Ok. Stick to the plan, and remember: no speaking." _

-It was showtime.

Neo takes a good look at the area in front of the car, and moves her way over to the fence. Following suit, Weiss pulls out Myrtenaster and starts shifting its barrels. Earth. Ice. Fire. The first step is to cut an entrance in.

Using her hands, Neo draws an imaginary rectangle on the fence. Putting a little energy into it, Weiss activates the fire dust in her rapier. Red radiates out across the sword, subtly projecting the shadows of the two on to the ground beside them. She traces the left and right side of the entrance to be, and Neo moves in front of her to grab the rest of the fence.

With one last swipe, the portion of the fence that Neo is holding onto is severed from the rest. She pushes through and lays it down silently. The subtle light from Weiss's sword flickers out as she disengages the dust from it. Before she can walk through the entrance herself, Neo comes back through.

_ "Wait a second." _

She watches as Neo goes over to the trunk of the car, her eyes drifting down to the mesmerizing rhythm of the cute thief's hips. They are not even five minutes in and they are already deviating from the plan?  While this does not bode well for the rest of the night, there would not be much point in worrying about it as they had come this far already.

_ "I should have let you know before we got here, but I borrowed another rapier for you. We still needed yours for the fence though." _

Neo holds out both her hands, accepting Weiss's weapon in one, and offering the new rapier in the other.

_ "No point in taking any chances with someone recognizing your weapon. We don't plan on fighting anyway, so don't worry too much if it feels like shit." _

That logic was pretty sound in her mind, so she trades her weapon in. And with that, the last remaining part of her identity is gone, traded away and covered up by a rented weapon. Is she still even Weiss anymore?

Of course she is, she just has a job to do.

While Neo walks back over to return Myrtenaster to the car, she takes a moment to examine her temporary combat partner. A little bit of rust on the hilt. Scratches in the false edge of the blade. A slight bend in the blade as a whole. An attempt at testing the balance leaves much to be desired. Here's to not having to use this  _ thing _ ...

_ "You good to go?" _

_ "Yeah, just wondering where it all went wrong." _

_ "Your life?" _

_ "The sword's." _

Neo is not the only one who can crack a joke. After a pause to enjoy the moment, the two head through the fence.

* * *

 

The road on the other side of the fence is barren, devoid of any foot or vehicle traffic. The lights from the loading bays are all turned off, as this station was not made for nightly on-loading or off-loading. The entire station is a holdover from back when Mountain Glenn was still around, and now serves as a refueling station for nightly trains.

Even then, most trains had enough fuel to pass through the station without stopping. But every once in a while, staff would be on site to accommodate a train from Atlas or Mistral. Even rarer still were the times when the cargo needed to be held overnight. This is often times because of construction. But tonight, both the Atlas fleet residing in Vale, and the recent Breach were preventing any further progress of the residing train before the standard working hours.

The pair of thieves make their way across the street, veering to the right to make their way to loading bay number eight. The light from the security checkpoint west of them is all they have to guide their way until they reach metal staircase leading up towards their entrance of choice. The upper area of the loading bay welcomes them with light leaking from under the various entrance ways.

Reaching into her pocket, Neo picks out a small flashlight, and shines it on their path towards the side door. The sign on the door indicates that they were not allowed to be there, but such a warning is futile in the face of a couple of determined thieves. The lock on it, on the other hand, would at least give them pause.

Weiss grabs the flashlight, as Neo reaches back into her pocket to pull out her tools. With the light illuminating the lock, she sets to work opening the door. Though they do not expect anyone to be wandering all the way down towards them in the dark, Weiss keeps her eyes on the lookout for anyone roaming up and down the road.

So far, so good. But it really couldn't be this easy to get inside, could it? Then again, the main crime lord that plagued Vale was in prison, and the Atlesian Fleet probably gave the White Fang pause in their terror spree. Something to take note of when she eventually ends up running the Schnee Dust Company. Your product is never safe.

The lock pops. Neo gives the door a pull, and it clicks as it swings open. After putting her lock picking tools away, she accepts the flashlight from Weiss. The lights were on. Fast and loud it is then. They had been hoping to make their way quickly down darkened hallways, using only the emergency lights to make their way to the train. But with the lights on, they have to be a little more risky about it, as they could easily be seen in this kind of light, regardless of what they were wearing. No plan survives first contact with the enemy unscathed.

_"No running, but we're not going to take our time in here. The sooner we can get out of these hallways, the better."_  

Weiss nods, and Neo moves in first.  After checking the left hallway, she proceeds onward and inward.  Pulling on the door slowly, Weiss lets go after the handle gives her some resistance, and makes haste to follow Neo down the hallway.

* * *

 

"Yes, yes, I know you need more dust, but there was simply nothing I could do about the delays.  I had to personally ship it all the way from Atlas, as more space we needed."

The voice on the other end starts to rise, but Jacques cuts them off.

"How was I supposed to know that the Atlesian Fleet would take up residence in Vale at this very moment?  I'm a businessman, not a fortune teller. Either way it will be there tomorrow, and I expect the money to be sitting in the account tomorrow morning."

The voice goes silent for a moment, and then agrees to his terms.  He puts down his scroll, and lays back in his office chair. What a bunch of fools, playing for power as soon as the top dog gets put in the doghouse.  He vastly prefers working with Roman, but that old son of a bitch had gotten himself jailed. Though "working" is such a loose term, as they had only really done one business venture together.  But all of that dust Roman had stolen? Dust stores had to repurchase it all straight from him, and that was wonderful for business.

With all of the White Fang nonsense in Vale, he had little to worry about at the mines for the time being.  And without Ironwood in Atlas, he has a little more leeway to crush his competition. So much for Atlas's Commander in Chief of Law and Order.  There were a few more dust suppliers left in Atlas itself, but after he cleared them out, he could start to move on to some of the frontier towns. 

Business is good. And when business is good, life is good.

* * *

 

About ten minutes after entering the building, Weiss and Neo leave the mess of hallways behind to arrive at the eighth train car.  Unlike the lights in the hallway, the platform's hanging lights flicker on and off, a soft orange hue bathing the side of car.

The main platform is divided into sections for each car, with a wide open entrance way on the walls in between each car beside the edge of the platform.  Broken down aisles of chairs litter what was once a waiting area for passengers. At the edges of the rooms, ripped posters glorifying Mountain Glenn adorn the discolored walls.  As the pair walk toward the train car, a rat scurries into one of the fallen over trash cans.

_ "What a fucking disaster,"   _ Neo signs.

Neo shakes her head and drags Weiss over to the ledge between the last two cars of the train.  With a quick glance over the ledge, she estimates the distance between the ground and their position atop the platform.  Too high to jump down without making a lot of noise.

_ "Give me a second, we can't jump down without alerting someone." _

After an acknowledgement from Weiss, she returns her eyes to the ground below her, taking her time to construct mental image of their next destination. Rusted train tracks flanked by a single concrete wall. The subtle scars on the connections between the cars. Cracked asphalt littered with cigarette butts. And lucky for her, not a single sound, ambient or otherwise.

Closing her eyes for a moment, she confirms her mind's version of the area below. As a semblance, her illusions and her teleportation was very useful, although time consuming to set up. Many hours had been consumed by the pursuit of perfection of her skills, which involved a lot of staring at different rooms in Roman's old apartment. By now, she could almost get away with just a photograph and a general sense of direction of where she wanted to go.

Ready to go, she taps Weiss on the shoulder.

_ "I'm going to need you to relax like we did in training.  We're teleporting down." _

Weiss's stomach starts to roll.  While it wasn't exactly unpleasant, her previous experiences with Neo's semblance had not gone well.  Lots of puking. Lots of dizziness. But as it goes, practice does make perfect. A bit of preemptive nausea and momentary disorientation afterwards are all that she experiences at this point.

Closed eyes and a deep breath.  She signals to Neo that she is ready to go. 

With a flourish, Neo brings the pair to the bottom of the tracks, and they begin to make their way to the fourth car.

* * *

 

What a boring shift.  Of course the Schnee Dust Company would have a train come into the station the same night as the playoffs.  And of course he would get assigned a shift at the graveyard station on that very same night.

"I'm gonna go make my rounds now.  Playoffs are about to start and I'd rather not miss the start."

His partner gives him a lazy salute.

"Have fun."

Grabbing his flashlight and putting on his jacket, he heads for the door out of the security office.  With Torchwick out of commission, the idea of speeding through this check is very tantalizing. The gangs were currently in a power struggle to fill the vacuum left in his wake, so why not cut a couple corners here or there to get back to the game faster?

He looks towards the train cars.  Normally, the routine was to check each car and its associated loading bay, making his way to the back of the facility.  If he skips the cars and just checks the loading bays he could probably make it back to the office before the first quarter ends.  The SDC employees on the train had their own rounds to do anyways, so no sense in duplicating the work.

He looks into loading bay one and tweaks the door handle a little bit.  Looks good.

One down, seven to go.

* * *

 

The area between the third and fourth cars is just as dull as the area they had landed in earlier.  The only difference between here and there is the relative danger, on account of the mercenary for hire at the locomotive car of the train.  Though they might have gotten away with talking at this distance, there is no point in leaving things to chance.

_ "Remember, use your semblance to slow me down during the fall, and let your knees absorb the leftover shock as you catch me.  Just like we practiced." _

This is the one point they had focused on in training.  Weiss has to toss Neo up to give her a view over top their target, so she could teleport the two of them up there.  They did not want to get spotted by the guard who is supposed to be just starting his rounds, so they had to enter the train car through the roof. 

-Weiss took a deep breath.

She opens her arms, and Neo lays herself on top of them.  The first time they had tried this, Weiss had dropped her.  Now, with the results of a couple of weeks of workouts and a lot of rehearsal, the muscle memory is there and she just had to wait for Neo to give the signal.

One tap.

Two taps.

Three taps.

Go.

As she tosses Neo upwards, she forms a glyph to give Neo enough acceleration to hit a high vantage point.  Easily the riskiest part of the operation. After Neo clears the top of the train car, glyphs appear start to appear on her return path downwards.  The deceleration would help Weiss catch Neo, and prevent most of the noise of the landing.

-Neo scanned the top of the train car.

She and Weiss had gone over a variety of ways to get in to this car, before settling on this one as the most practical.  The ensuing discussion gave her a lot more respect for the heiress, as she had approached each option with a very pragmatic mindset.  This one especially put most of the burden on Weiss herself, but that did not sway her in the slightest after they both agreed that it was the option with the least likely chance of detection.

Doing it for real though...  is something else. The adrenaline pumping from the fear of getting caught?  Combining with the feeling of floating down through the air and landing in a pair of warm arms?  Heavenly. 

And this would be why, as much as Neo steals to live, she lives to steal.  A fine art she could not help but enjoy. And since she and Roman are so good at it, why should she bother stopping?  With Roman in jail, she had been missing this, but her little pet project is paying all sorts of dividends.

With her descent starting, she prepares for landing.  At first, the slow falling through the air had caught her off guard, freaking her out as she was used to use actual gravity taking effect.  Now, she just took the chance to close her eyes and relax.

Feeling Weiss's arms encompassing her, she gives Weiss a little hug and a kiss on the cheek, before jumping off.  She could not let such a wonderful chance to tease slip by, now could she?

_ "Thanks love." _

Weiss blushes a bit, but she closes her eyes in preparation for the next step.  She would never admit it out loud, but the teasing definitely helps distract her nerves.

After confirming she got a good enough look at their destination, Neo grabs Weiss and puts the two on top of the car.

They look at the trap door on the roof.  Another lock. Weiss looks at Neo, and they both sigh.  Neo gets to work while Weiss keeps a lookout.

* * *

 

Fuck this station.

The idiots who designed this station decided in a spark of brilliance, that the best way to organize the loading docks was in pairs.  This means that he has to walk back to the middle of the station, cross through the hallways between passenger seating, and then return to the main hallway connected to the loading bays. 

This easily adds an extra ten minutes to his walk through.

After checking around the fourth loading bay, he looks down at his watch.  Game starts in seven minutes. At this rate, he would be done with his rounds around half way through the first quarter.  That is actually better than he had expected. He could probably finish up the rest of these in about twelve if he runs a little.

He speeds up his pace a little bit as he crosses the bridged between the first half and the second half of the station.

Four more to go.

* * *

 

While it is not a difficult lock to pick, the time Neo had to spend finicking with it cost them a good five minutes.

Finishing up, she alerts Weiss.  Time for her to grab the goods.

The plan had about eighteen minutes given to Weiss to search for the dust.  They had been a little ahead of schedule after crossing the building so quickly, but the lock just costed them all of that leeway, and a little more.

Weiss quickly drops down into the car, and Neo takes over her watch spot.

An examination of the cargo presents her with a very thorough and somewhat efficient way to search the car.  While losing out on the goods is not preferred, going through everything with a fine tooth comb is not an option.  If only she had payed a little more attention to those conversations of her father that she had eavesdropped on.

At least she knew what she was looking for.  Two sixty gram blackened cylinders of unmarked dust.

Without any more hesitation, she begins her inspection of the car, categorizing everything of value in her mind, in case she does not end up finding what they came for.  Better to leave with something than nothing.

* * *

 

Just one more left.

He peers into the bay, content to leave without even a full run through, but stops himself when he notices something.  The door is not completely closed. With one hand moving to his firearm, he takes out his radio with the other. He walks over and wiggles the door handle.

Unlocked.

"Control, I think we have a problem."

His radio crackles.

"What's up?"

"The door in loading bay eight is unlocked."

"Shit.  Guess we're not watching the game tonight, are we?"

"No we're not.  Alert the drivers, I'll start to cover this end of the station."

* * *

 

-Weiss was frustrated.

Of all the parts of this mission that could have been painful, this is not the one she had expected it to be.  She had not found the dust in her first cursory search, and her second more in depth search had not found it either.

There is a lot of undocumented dust in here.  And no sign of the two black sixty gram containers she is looking for either.  Maybe she should start looking for hidden compartments? No... there isn’t any time to search the entire car for that, and she had exhausted at least 10 minutes already.

Time to look through it all  **again** .

* * *

While being on lookout is one of the more boring parts of the heist, the moments of respite from all of the adrenaline were one of the few moments that Neo savors.  And the importance of it could not be understated. Having an advance warning of the cops usually made getting out in time a lot less fussy, even if they did not end up with whatever they were there for.

The sound of a train door opening broke her relaxation.

-It was time for their exit strategy.

Evidently their cover had been blown, as they were supposed to have about five to seven more minutes before anyone even thought about showing up in their part of the station.  And from the way it sounded, it is the Atlas mercenary who was on their way.

Jumping down through the hatch, she grabs a red can of spray paint that she brought with her.  She gives Weiss three taps on her shoulder, their chosen method of indicating that exit is imminent, and walks over to the door.

The logo is easy enough for her to make, as Roman had drilled into her a variety of different terrorist and gang symbols back when they had just gotten started.  This would be the first time she ever had a chance to use it, and the irony in framing a faunus terrorist organization for a crime committed by a Schnee brought a smile to her face.

Finishing her graffiti, she turns back to Weiss, who still has not finished with her search of the inside of the car.  As useful as her teleportation was, bad things tended to happen when all of the involved parties did not have their full attention on it. 

She taps Weiss again, three times.  With enough force to make Weiss react.

"God damn it, Neo, I'm almost done."

-Those words were a big mistake.

_ "You fucking idiot." _

Footsteps clatter from down the hallway, some unintelligible shouts echoing out, and the weight of the situation finally hits Weiss.

They were about to be caught, and she still did not know where the gravity dust was.  Feeling Neo get more impatient by the moment, she goes over in her head on what she had found that while searching.

_ Fire crystals. _

_ No, those boxes are too big.  Neo can’t teleport me out if I try to carry four giant boxes of crystals. _

Neo pokes her in the side, putting enough force behind it to cause her to wince.

_ Lightning dust. _

_ Damn it, that crap isn’t even worth anything.  I’d have to take the entire train car anyway if we wanted to get anything valuable. _

She feels Neo give a sharp tug on her hair, pulling it out of the balaclava.  The footsteps get closer by the second.

_ Vials of high grade ice dust.   _

_ These are probably my best bet.  I can definitely carry those, and Neo shouldn’t be too disappointed with how much they are worth.  Now where were they again? _

She walks over to the third set of shelves.

Two rows from the top, next to the four unmarked one hundred twenty gram cylinders.

She starts to grab the vials, but she pauses as she takes another look at the cylinders.

_ Unmarked cylinders... _

Neither taking both, nor confirming the contents were options.  There is simply no time left. She could take the safe bet, the ice vials, or she could risk it on the mystery cylinders.

-And Weiss gambled.

She grabs the two of the cylinders and tosses them behind her to Neo, and grabs her own pair. 

She turns around, face to face with a Neo who is fuming.

She can barely hear the sounds of the mercenary scrambling to unlock the door over her heartbeat.

She embraces Neo, and whispers in her ear.

"Let's get out of here."

And they're gone.

* * *

 

The alert he had gotten did not really worry him all that much, as it was impossible for anyone to know about Mr. Schnee's special delivery.

But the sounds of people talking in the same car that the delivery he was assigned to protect, well, he starts to worry.

Because, as it would turn out, train cars do not make people sounds.

So he starts to run.

He passes the door of the second car, and then quickly passes the third car.

Stopping quickly in front of the door of the car, and without thinking, he tries to pry it open.

Locked.

Cursing under his breath, he reaches for his keys in his back pocket and fumbles them into the lock.  He twists the handle, and looks inside, releasing his held breath when he finds no one there.

It is quite odd how the train car is so well lit despite there being no lights on the inside.  The hatch on the roof is typically not open at this time of night.

And then it occurs to him: he is too late.

On the other hand, the car seems untouched, though he has to check to make sure.

Walking over to where it should be, his heart sinks.

An empty space next to four vials of ice dust.

No one hundred and twenty gram cases of gravity dust.

"Fuck."

Apparently someone had known about the delivery, and they had stolen from right under his  watch. Which meant it would be his fault. And probably his death. Neither the SDC nor the gangs would be too happy with the idea of someone stealing from either of them, and both tended to lash out violently when something went wrong.  It never mattered how long someone had been with the company, nor the pedigree of their military experience. With a mistake this big? He is done for.

Turning around, he begins to stumble out the door.  Right as he enters the doorway he sees it.

The White Fang logo.  Paint dripping, teasing him with how fresh it was.

He pulls out his scroll.

"Boss."

The other side of the line starts to yell at him.  Something about interrupting his perfectly good sleep.

"The White Fang stole it."

And just like what was likely to become of his life, the line goes dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the new chapter, and sorry about the delay. In the future, if you want to see where I am with a chapter, you can check the r/rwby friday fanfic thread, I post their once a week with my status.
> 
> As for why it was so late, I was coming to terms with the fact that I’m transgender. Dealing with this is definitely going to mess with my schedule. So in turn, I think that the next chapter will be done in 4-5 weeks, rather than the 3 weeks I was aiming for. Thanks for understanding, and leave a review if you want!


	7. The Aftermath

The subtle roll of the engine and the pitch black darkness did nothing to alleviate the tension in between the pair of thieves.  While they had escaped before being seen, the way Neo had thrown her in to the car tells Weiss that she  _ may  _ have slipped up.  It would not be the first time someone was angry with her for making a mistake, but, unlike Neo, her father was not a killer.

Hopefully, the car ride home would give the both of them some time to stew before anything rash happened.

Then again, if what she had grabbed is not what they came for, then she might still be in for some trouble.  Hopefully, the night would end without any incident.

* * *

 

It is not often for the serenity of the Schnee manor to be broken by the sound of a scroll ringing.  Much less being broken at the bedside of Jacques Schnee. Not many even contemplate the thought of calling him in the middle of the night, much less go through with such a disastrous action.

But alas, some do have the audacity to make such a call.  Gripping his scroll with white knuckles, he answers the phone.

"Who is it?"

His personal assistant answers back.  A little bit curious, his first thought had been that his earlier clients were unhappy with their last conversation and wanted to annoy him a bit more.

"And what was it that you needed to ring me half way through my sleep to bother me about?"

So his assistant details the situation.  A SDC train had been robbed yet again. The intruders snuck in after hours and picked up some cargo and left the White Fang logo on the wall.  Not just any cargo, but the one he had assured merely hours ago would be delivered.

What a terrible way to start this week’s business.

* * *

 

Weiss jerks forward, the car coming to a sudden halt.  What must be Neo's apartment stares back at her. She could have sworn they were going back to her rented hotel room, but clearly other plans were made.  Her fear gets a small reprieve, as she sees Neo get out of the car without slamming the door.

After getting out and kicking the door close, she follows Neo inside, carrying the dust containers.  Peering around a bit, she lays it down on the table, and takes the seat across from Neo. Before walking in, Weiss did not have any expectations for how this apartment might look.  And yet, the decor of the apartment still manages to take her by surprise.

Retro ice cream advertisements adorn the walls, framed like a collection.  The checkerboard floor, upon which the chair and table rest on, are spic and span.  And the table and chair? Stainless steel and glossy plastic, straight out of a retro movie.

A tap from across the table breaks her out of her reverie.  Time to face the music.

_ "So you fucked up." _

Weiss brings her eyes level with Neo's, attempting to steel herself even though butterflies inhabit her stomach.

"I did."

They stare at each other.

_ "As long as you understand." _

Neo leans back in her chair.

_ "Since you're the one who stands to lose the most if you fuck up, there's no need for me to rub it in.  I thought you said there would be only two containers?" _

A small breath of relief.

"That would be true.”

And a small pause as she averts her gaze.

”I didn't actually find exactly what I was looking for, so I ended up taking a gamble.  There were a lot more unmarked containers in there, but these four matched the size."

Neo leans forward, examining the containers laying on the table.

_ "Any chance they're bugged or booby trapped?" _

"No...  They just not might be what we came for."

Huffing, Neo grabs one of them and opens it to peer inside.  Her face impassive, she hands it to Weiss to take a look.

The matte purple brings a smile to both of their faces.

_ "Nice going, love, this a pretty big haul for your first job." _

"There are going to be more?"

_ "More jobs?  Definitely." _

Neo continues after seeing Weiss's face freeze.

_ "Relax.  We're done for the night, it's time to celebrate a little bit, and talk about what we're going to do with the dust." _

As Neo excuses herself from the table, Weiss slumps back into her chair.  What "we're" going to do with the dust? She had assumed that Neo already had plans for whatever it would be that they would steal.  How would she explain to her team why she had a small fortune in exceedingly valuable dust? Moreover, what would she even do with it?  And what is Neo going to do...

**Thwack.**

The paper ball that hit her in the face rolls down in to her lap.  Neo stands across the room, shaking her head.

_ "Seriously, take a break.  You were great, aside from the slip at the end.  Now tell me what flavor you want." _

Weiss looks around for a menu, and then stares at Neo, who points at her lap.  Unfurling the paper ball in her lap, she reads off it.

_ Scoop of Vanilla. _

_ Scoop of Chocolate. _

_ The House Special. _

"I'll take a scoop of van-"

_ How boring. _

When was the last time she had even thought about getting something different?  Oh yeah, her father had told her to shut up and be thankful she was even getting ice cream.  It was all about him, and what he wanted. But she should be over that now. Tonight was a night of trying new things, and she is not about to let that end here.

"Give me the House Special."

Neo grins.

_ "Two House Specials it is then." _

* * *

 

The ride back to Beacon the following morning would be a good time to collect her thoughts, before she attended her morning classes.  Neo had informed her that the dust would not be returning with her to Beacon for the time being. At least until Weiss had decided what she wanted to do with it.

The decision would be essentially whether or not she should fence it or keep it.  While she does not currently have any need for gravity dust, fencing it does not seem like an option she wished to pursue either.  Like most dust, it is a potent tool for catastrophe, and at the moment selling it to a bunch of vagrants did not seem like such a fantastic idea.

While there was a timer on how long the dust would stay stable, it did not mean she is in any rush to reach a decision.  There is about a month and a half before the dust has to be moved to a new container. or for the old one to be recharged.

She would have to ask around, either for ideas on how to use it, or for more storage containers.

"You're good to go Miss Schnee," the pilot says over the intercom.

"Again, I'm sorry for making you bring me back at such an odd time in the morning."

"Just doing my job, ma'am."

Walking off the bullhead, she begins to head towards her dorm.  

The morning fog hung low to the ground, moderating the vastness and grandeur of Beacon’s buildings.  The light drizzle cools off the air, battling with the heat from the morning sun. The landing zone devoid of the hustle and bustle typical of the afternoons and evenings when students might be coming and going to Vale.  A nice atmosphere to collect her own thoughts, one of the few better to enjoy in the morning.

"So, how did the work for your father go?"

Blake's voice startles her, as she turns around to see her teammate standing there with her arms crossed.  She had assumed that Ruby would be the one to pick her up.

"Must you always sneak up on me like that?  It makes it feel like I'm about to get kidnapped."

Blake smiles, and the two of them start walking again.

"Well, this isn't a kidnapping, just an interrogation."

Her preparation had been for Ruby and her style of questioning, not Blake's.  A little stalling would be all she needs herself in to the right frame of thought.

"I thought that Ruby was going to be picking me up."

"She had a lot more fun last night than she expected, so I told her I'd take care of you this morning."

The conversation pauses for a moment, before Blake speaks up again.

"As I asked before, how did the work for your father go?"

And so...

-Weiss let the lies flow.

“Just a typical inventory of company warehouses.  I still don’t understand why I was required to be…”

* * *

 

The rest of the week proceeded as normal.  School in the morning and afternoon, and a little bit of training with Neo in the evening, sneaking in bouts of studying and hanging out with her team between the two.  The questions had stopped pretty quickly after Blake had given her a once over on the day of her return.

What had been surprising, though, is the absence of news of the theft.  Surely a theft perpetrated by the White Fang would have collated some media interest?  Father would never pass up a chance to scapegoat the terrorist organization in order to promote sympathy for his own company.  Had Neo forgotten to leave the mark to be found? She would have to confirm later.

Shaking it off, she returns to eating her breakfast with her team and listening to the morning news.

"This is Lisa Lavender.  Last night, police found the body of a Schnee Dust Company contractor who had been reported as missing two days ago.  The body was found in an alley in gang-controlled territory after police had gotten a tip from some locals to the neighborhood."

Gangs going after SDC employees?  It would not be the first time, but it still strikes her as a bit odd.  SDC employees did not tend to roam around gang infested territory, too much risk in getting product stolen.

"The man who was killed purportedly had ties to the Atlas military, and officials are investigating if this may be connected to the case at all.  Vale News has contacted the Schnee Dust Company for comment, and were given the following: 'We are very sad to have lost a valuable employee in what looks to be senseless violence, and doing everything in our power to coordinate with local law enforcement officials and advance their investigations.'"

She rolls her eyes, as she hears Blake let out a snort.

"You know Blake, you could technically blame me for that one."

Turning her attention to Weiss, Blake puts down her fork.

"And why is that?"

"Because I wrote that template myself on an internal company memo, a couple of years back."

She lets a bit of silence flow through the table.  Her father had given her a lot of monotonous work a couple years back. 'Learning how to write non-committal and vague responses is very important to keeping the company image prim and proper, Weiss.'  Nowadays it looked more like lying to her, rather than her father's idea of good PR.

After staring at her for a moment, a giggle comes out of Blake's mouth.  Weiss's lips tilt upwards into a smile.

"I see your skill with bullshit began at such a young age.  No wonder you’re a master at it."

"Well...  I have to say, I have nothing on Nora."

"Hey!  I don't bullshit!"  Nora says, folding her arms in a pout as the rest of the table starts to laugh.

Weiss joins in the laughter until a noise from her pocket causes her to freeze.  A ring tone she dreaded hearing. The one that means her father is calling. Attempting to prevent her friends from noticing her panic, she quickly excuses herself from the table.

"I'll be right back, I've got to take this call from my father."

-And she ran off to a private space.

_ Does he know I did it?  How could he even know? Oh god, I shouldn’t have ignored all his calls for this long.  Maybe I need to call Winter. God knows what he’s told her at this point. Okay Weiss, don’t panic.  This’ll be fine, just relax... _

* * *

 

The look on Weiss's face when her scroll went off had not been missed by Blake.  It strikes her as odd, that kind of panic is not typical for the girl she knew, one who spent most of her days scowling.  Deciding to note it down for later, she returns to the conversation the rest of her friends have decided to engage in.

"That's weird," Ruby says.

"What?  Weiss running off because her father called her?" Blake says, “that seems par for the course recently.”

"No, no, not that.  She did that to me before, at the festival, but..."

"But?"

"Her scroll ring tone was different then.  Even though she told me she was talking to her father?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Ruby, the Ice Queen has her own daddy issues," Yang says, trying to bring Ruby back into talk about Nora's crazy stories.   
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, as always you can check out the r/rwby reddit fanfic fridays to see my progress. Review and let me know what you think!


	8. A Call and Some Ice Cream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Implied abuse.

"Hello Weiss."

A shiver runs down her spine.  She has only her father had sound this angry at her once before.  The day she had announced her enrollment in Beacon, and the day after that when he realized he could not stop her.  

Her gut is telling her to hang up, to ignore his existence, and to go back to her team and enjoy the rest of her morning.  Yet her hand remains frozen, like a deer in headlights.

Why had she picked up his call?  Ignoring all of his past calls had been suiting her just fine, but now she decides to pick this one up?  Is it because he may have found out that she stole from him? Was there any use in trying to cover it up if he had?

Recovering her breath, she prepares herself for his tirade.

"Hello Father."

He pauses, caught off guard at the sound of her voice.

"I'm glad you have finally decided to stop ignoring me.  Normally, I would spend some time inquiring to as to why you might think that ditching my calls was a good idea, but I have more important business with you to take care of."

"I am deeply apolog-"

"As I said, my important business involves you for now.  There is no need for you to update me on whether on your status at school right now."

This is so typical of her father.   _Oh Weiss, why have you not responded to my calls at all?  Clearly I care about your well being. Oh, you're here now to talk to me?  Never mind that, I have company business._ It is always about him.  Or the company. **His company.** He never thought about her, or what she wanted.  Everything he said or did twists it way into being for his benefit.  When she quit singing and decided to go to Beacon? Oh woe is him, no more free advertisement or sympathy from the fine art types.  When Winter decided to join the military? Oh good, he could really use another friendly voice to keep the company's military contracts locked in.  And then when she abandoned him for Ironwood? Time to argue with hours for Ironwood over meaningless bullshit to get back at the general for stealing his daughter.

\- It was always about him.

He continues.

"Recently a shipment that had made its way to Vale was compromised, and an important piece of cargo was taken.  Such incompetence cannot be tolerated, so I've decided to do a security audit of company shipping and receiving in Vale."

"I haven't heard any-"

"I don't have time to play twenty questions with you, Weiss.  I just need you to do some inspections for me. You remember the proper procedure, don't you?"

"Of course I do, but I'm very busy with school at the moment."

"Well then, make some time.  Or would you prefer to find yourself without a way to purchase all that Dust you use for combat?"

Arguing with him is pointless.  Even though she is hundreds of miles away, his control has only been somewhat weakened.  She is shackled by her need for dust in combat, as the amount of dust she uses it not affordable to fledgeling huntress in training.  Part time jobs are not an option given her expensive her materials are.

Her silence gives him the answer he is looking for.

"I thought so, Weiss."

To add insult to injury, he uses the voice they both know he uses against those he has gained control over or has crushed.

"These inspections must be done with haste, Weiss.  I expect only the best from you."

\- He hung up.

* * *

  _Neopolitan._

Even though she had chosen it long ago, she would admit it is a bit on the nose.  Back when she was just starting in her bar trolling phase, it had been a decent way to open a conversation.  But after one too many times of "Oh your parents must've made that into a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy," she had given it up.  Bringing up her interest in frozen treats had ended up making her less likely to beat up unsuspecting women.

It is no secret that she enjoys ice cream.  A side hobby, a guilty pleasure, a way to keep herself out of trouble.  Well, not so much out of trouble as to be in less trouble. Roman had once commented on it, calling it an obsession, but she had quickly and physically voided him of that silly notion.  And it is not like she just eats it. She lives it.

One of the great perks of being a thief is being able to get rare pieces of equipment or memorabilia for the best price.  Another would be the ability to afford a large enough apartment to hold all of her proffered toys and antiques. And what was wrong with threatening a craftsman, or two, to get a hold of something that could only be recreated from old pictures or movies?  

Her preferred atmosphere was the retro ice cream shop.  And of all the styles from back then, she really enjoyed the designs of those in Vale.  Lucky for her, being in the area made it easy for her to acquire pieces to style the first floor of her apartment.  Dragging Roman around Vale looking for ideas, to torture him a little bit when she was feeling frosty? Just a little bit of a bonus.

But an ice cream shop cannot exist without a kitchen to back it up.  Unlike the parlor room, sleek and modern is the style of choice in here.  Two batch freezers running with different mixtures or empty, with the numbers of repairmen who can keep their work quiet posted on the sides.  A stove top with with plenty of room for cooking up whatever she needs. The countertop next to the stove curves around into an L shape, ending at a walk in freezer and refrigerator.  It had taken a couple of years to get everything in the front setup, but the back had only been a matter of money.

While she had liked what she served up to Weiss over the weekend, improvement is always within reach if she puts in the effort.  After grabbing some ingredients out of the refrigerator, she brings up her history of recipes on a computer sitting by the counter.

And that would be why Roman had called it an obsession.

And more than just her own personal recipe, she has a list of all the subtle ways she has ever tweaked and twiddled with it over the years gone past.  And it that is not just limited to her house special. but covers every flavor she has ever made.

Testing always involves restocking her basic building blocks.  She would never want to get caught in an ice cream emergency without the ability to make some quickly, now would she?

\- Step 1: French Vanilla Cream

_She lets her arms take control as she whisks the eggs.  A thousand times done prior, and sure to be done a thousand times more before she perfects it._

Speaking of Weiss, she had been more than a little impressed at the heiress's dogged ability to endure her training.  Quite a bit too stubborn for someone who she thought is a fairly vanilla rich socialite. Though that would explain why she attends combat school, rather than staying in Atlas.

With the way the heiress is improving, one day there may be a little bit of challenge in one of their spars.

_With the eggs blended, she whisks in some sugar, after which milk, cream, and vanilla extract follow.  Into the fridge it goes, along with some plastic wrap over top._

\- Step 2: Chocolate Covered Strawberry Chunks

_Low heat for the stove and some shortening along with the dark chocolate chips in a saucepan.  Watching the mixture melt, she takes out a spoon to keep the chocolate stirred with._

Weiss’s strength training has started to pay off, too.  While she dominated every single spar they have had so far, she definitely needed to put in more force to keep Weiss pinned down.  A little more fight in her prey went a long way to keeping her satisfied.

_With the chocolate mostly melted, she takes a knife to the pile of strawberries on the cutting board.  When half of the strawberries have been turned to chunks, a fork dips the chunks in chocolate and moves them to their final resting place before cooling in the fridge: on top of waxed paper.  The rest of the chocolate sits on the stove, waiting for later._

\- Step 3: Strawberry Syrup

_Bringing another saucepan to the stove, she puts water and sugar over medium-high heat.  A fresh spoon to stir it, until all the sugar has dissolved. The remaining strawberries join the syrup, as she brings it all to a boil.  She sets the timer._

It did not hurt that the toned muscles are making Weiss even more attractive than before.  Pale, short, and sassy is just her type. _And that scar._  The kind of bravado needed to ignore it, regardless of how easy it would be to brush a little bit of makeup on, just gets her going.

_The timer goes off.  Reducing the heat, she lets the syrup simmer, watching for the strawberries to become mushy and for it to thicken._

And that only makes her want to tease the heiress more.  Even with all of her flirting and bullying, Weiss has yet to throw in the towel and going crying to mommy and daddy.  Most people would have stopped talking to her or avoided her already. But unlike them, Weiss is already sending some heat back her way.

_Satisfied with the syrup, she strains its into a glass jar to be stored in the fridge._

\- Step 4: Churn Ice Cream and Add Chunks

_She fills the batch freezer with her mix from earlier, starting up the machine to churn and cool it to a softly frozen consistency._

At least playing around with her will keep Roman off her back. It is always "you need more friends!" or "how do you alienate every person you meet?!". And it is not like she did not have friends and family. She had Roman, and Roman. Well... it sounds a bit lame when she puts it like that, but it cannot be her fault that the only person who can put up with her is him.

_With the ice cream starting to get to the proper texture, the chocolate covered strawberry chunks get tossed in._

It would not be like she did not try.  Actually, more like she has tried. The last time she tried to “make friends,” she was trying to get with the Malachite twins. Admittedly, her approach could have used some work, so it could have gone better that it did. Since then, going out of her way to meet people seemed like a bit of an exhausting waste of time.

_Happy with the ice cream's consistency, she turns the machine off._

\- Step 5: Layer Chocolate and Syrup, then Store

_With the remaining chocolate and the syrup, she layers the soft ice cream from the batch freezer straight into an ice cream drum. Every so often, she lays down a layer of chocolate or strawberry syrup._

There is a reason she doesn’t like other people, and over the last eight years, she still had yet to hear the end of it from Roman. Once a month, like clockwork, it would be time for Doctor Roman and his couch. She did not want or need therapy, and his couch sucks. And then, without fail, she would be forced to remember...

* * *

 The woman's hands kept her shoulders down, preventing her from moving while the man did his work. She shifted and squirmed under the pressure, trying to escape. She tore her eyes away from the scalpel as the man sang the words that would stay with her for the rest of her life.

"The poor little bird is about to lose her voice, just like she lost her parents!"

* * *

 She jerks back at the flashback, intertwining the remaining streams of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Luckily, for the most part, everything is already set, it the ice cream is not ruined. Spending a few seconds to catch her breath, she sets the batch freezer to clean itself.

With a pen, she marks the drum with today's date and the name she will put into her computer for later reference.  The end result still needs to be frozen to achieve the full creaminess that she wants. Moving it to the freezer takes no time at all, so she writes the notes about what ratios she used into her computer.

A bowl she set out earlier becomes the new home for some ice cream she made yesterday.  A spoon brings it to her mouth. And swallowing it soothes her throat, and her mind starts to wander away from the bad memories.

* * *

 A cool breeze collides with the student and the teacher sitting on the roof.  The towel beneath them protects them from the leftovers of an afternoon shower.  The smell of fallen rain mixes with the scent of fresh cookies coming from the kitchen below them.  The light of the setting sun blending with the gradually increasing illumination of Beacon's lamps.

\- This was a place she would hate to lose.

 _"And that will be all for tonight, Weiss,"_ Jaune signs.

_"As always, thank you for your help.  I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to help out a novice such as myself."_

Jaune chuckles a bit.

"No need to be so formal, we're friends you know."

"There's no question about that, it's just good practice for when I inevitably use this for business," she deadpans, staring at him with a somber expression.

A smile peaks out of her as he rolls his eyes.

"So what was that call all about?"

She freezes up.

"What call?"

"Don't give me that.  You looked shaken after you got back."

Turning away from him, she stares out at the walls around Beacon.  She has zero interest in having this conversation, but it's going to be either him or Ruby.  And as she had stonewalled her team, it looks like the choice is obvious. After the crap she had given Blake for the incident at the docks, she would probably never hear the end of it if she did not at least talk to Jaune.

And she is not in the business of being a hypocrite at the moment.

"I talked with my father."

"I see."

He lets the silence sit on her shoulders.

"It was the first time since I've left."

He starts to ask a question, but she is quick to cut him off.  Of course he had heard about the incident with Ruby.

"That was via text," she says, "and it was his assistant then.  The difference was inconsequential at the time."

A hum.  She continues.

"He- he was very curt.  He wants me to in-" she catches herself this time, "continue to inspect SDC facilities and partners in Vale."

He joins her looking out over the roof.

"But it takes so much time.  I've got homework and projects to do, not to mention both the team exercises and solo exercises.  Did you know there's four major shipping centers by the docks and warehouses of Vale alone?"

He shakes his head.

"That's neglecting to talk about each of the chains of distribution from the warehouses or the commercial delivery centers that keep the local shops stocked up.  I've got at least three months of inspections to do, and that's if I do two a weekend. Which leaves me practically no time outside of school to do..."

\- She yelled.

"To do anything!  I can't live like that!  I have hobbies I want to do and people I want to hang out with and places I want to see!"

She catches herself, and turns to Jaune.  With her face flushing red, her breathing turning to hyperventilation, a tear forms at the corner of one of her eyes.

"I wanted to get away from it all, and yet I'm still stuck under his control."

She recovers her composure as he begins to speak.

"Can't you just, you know, ignore him?"

"As if.  He funds my ability to buy dust.  While I spend much time practicing without access to it, I'm at least somewhat reliant on it in most situations.   I make up over sixty percent of both our teams dust usage in actual combat alone. And that's ignoring both the price point of what I need and how indulgent I tend to be."

"That's, uh, a lot worse than I expected.  I'm guessing that rules out having your team helping you cover some of the costs."

"Disregarding the costs, I'm not selfish enough to ask my team to help pay for my own troubles like that."

The two sit there for a moment, watching the final rays of sunlight disappear.

"Well, even if you can't ignore it, you could make it a little more fun."

"Now how would I do that?"

"By being even more of a nag than you usually are."

He braces himself for a slap or a punch in the shoulder, but it never arrives.

"I'll let that one slide, just this once, because it’s true."

They both giggle.

"But I'm still not sure how that would help," she says.

"You could think of it like a game.  One of my older sisters used to complain about every little thing she saw when she was tasked to watch over me and the younger ones.  Dad got tired of it awfully quickly, and she never got picked to watch over us again," he says, "kind of like you learning to sign. You'd be doing what he asked, but we both know it is not what he wanted."

This line of thinking is new to her, but at first examination it looks like Jaune is right.

Her father is essentially using her to offload a bunch of work that would otherwise cost him time and money.  And it doubles as a punishment for her insubordination.

If he would not give her the freedom she desires, she will not give him the puppet that he wants.

She can double down.  These facilities generally did not have plans available to the public, or, more importantly, some of the less savory folks in town.  If she accidentally left the plans or codes in the hands of a certain umbrella carrying thief, her father would be none the wiser. Or if the same thief is at the same place she is inspecting at the same time, well, it is not like she is currently at the level of training to stop that?

_I'm sure Neo won't mind having a little more stealing to do._

"Oh yeah, what about a part time job?" Jaune says, "you know, to help out with the dust purchases?"

She narrows her eyes and gives him a long, hard look.

He laughs nervously.

"Uh, yeah, haha, funny joke Jaune.  You know me Weiss, I'm just a jokester."

The pause reminds her of the time.  Pyrrha's lesson is close, so she gets up and makes her way towards the staircase.

"As always, Jaune, thanks for the lesson."

She reaches the door.

"And thanks for being a friend."

As the door closes behind her, he lays back and closes his eyes with a smile.  And to no one in particular he says one more thing.

"No problem Weiss, it's what friends do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got a little darker than I expected it to, and for the most part I won't be focusing on it, but it will come up again.
> 
> Leave a review or a comment! It makes me want to write more~


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